WALTER SCHLOSS

Born in 1916 in New York City. Never went to college.

Instead, he took Benjamin Graham's investment course at the New York Stock Exchange Institute — the same course that shaped Buffett. Then he worked for Graham at Graham-Newman Corporation alongside Warren Buffett.

Started his own partnership, Walter J. Schloss Associates, in 1955.

He ran it for 47 years until closing it in 2002. During that time, he compounded at 15.3% annually gross (versus 11.5% for the S&P 500).

Before fees but even after fees, his investors crushed the market.

Buffett featured him in his famous 1984 speech "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville" as proof that value investing works. Schloss was Superinvestor #1 on the list.

Walter J. Schloss Associates was his one and only business.

He ran it from a single room — literally one room — in the offices of Tweedy, Browne & Company. No analysts.

No Bloomberg. No company visits.

Just him, his son Edwin (who joined later), and stacks of Value Line tear sheets.

At its peak the partnership managed around $130 million. Small by Wall Street standards but enormous for a two-person operation using Depression-era methods.

He never branched into other businesses, advisory work, or media. He just picked stocks from a tiny office for half a century.

Pure deep value in the Benjamin Graham tradition. Schloss bought stocks trading below their book value — preferably below net current asset value.

He didn't talk to management. He didn't visit factories.

He didn't model future earnings. He just looked at the balance sheet.

He typically owned 100+ stocks at a time — extreme diversification by value investing standards. If a stock was statistically cheap, he bought it.

No story, no thesis, no catalyst. Just cheapness.

He was patient beyond belief. He'd hold stocks for years waiting for the market to recognize the value.

He said the stock market was a patient man's game and an impatient man's enemy.

Compound returns over 50 years. His 15.3% annual return doesn't sound flashy, but over 50 years it turns $10,000 into $11.2 million.

The S&P 500 at 11.5% would have turned it into $2.1 million. His consistency — beating the market in most decades for half a century — is the real achievement.

It's one of the longest market-beating track records in history.

Schloss didn't have spectacular failures because his extreme diversification prevented any single position from mattering too much. His approach meant he owned plenty of stocks that went nowhere or declined, but the winners always more than compensated.

His biggest "mistake" was his humility — he could have managed billions and earned enormous fees, but he kept his fund small and his fees modest.

Schloss followed Benjamin Graham's principles with monastic devotion for 50 years. Buy below book value.

Diversify. Be patient.

Don't pay attention to Wall Street opinions. Don't try to predict the economy.

He published "Factors Needed to Make Money in the Stock Market" — a one-page summary of 16 investing rules. It includes gems like "Don't be in too much of a hurry to sell" and "Buy companies with no or low debt."

His deepest belief: the market always overreacts. Stocks get too cheap and too expensive.

Buying the cheap ones and waiting is all you need.

Married to Anna Schloss. They had two children.

His son Edwin joined the partnership and worked alongside him for decades. Walter Schloss died in 2012 at age 95, still sharp and still interested in stocks.

Never attended college. Took Benjamin Graham's evening course at the New York Stock Exchange Institute in the 1930s.

Then worked for Graham directly at Graham-Newman Corporation. His education was entirely self-made and practical.

He proved that formal credentials are irrelevant to investment success.

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