Self-Education
“ For a girl to get a business education , it is not necessary for her to go to a ‘ business college ,’ although in many cases that would be a good thing for her to do . There are a thousand ways in which girls can get business training , and each girl should select that particular way which is most accessible to her , and most to her taste .”
— Hetty Green
The greatest financiers , policymakers and investors in history share a natural commitment to self-education . Alexander Hamilton designed the foundation of the US financial system based almost entirely on knowledge acquired from reading economic history books . Charlie Munger spent a sizable portion of each day buried in books . His business partner , Warren Buffett , embraced the same habit , and he continues to read voraciously to this day . Finally , in his memoirs , Benjamin Graham credits his education in economics and finance to “ reading , meditating and practical experience .” Hetty Green was also a lifelong practitioner of self-education . This was especially crucial in her case because formal educational opportunities were limited for Gilded Age women . Hetty ’ s formal schooling consisted of roughly one year at the Friend ’ s Academy boarding school and three years at the James Russell Lowell School . But even these classes had little to do with her achievements on Wall Street . Instead , self-study was her only reliable source of knowledge . Hetty ’ s curriculum began at a young age when she volunteered to read newspapers and business reports to her grandfather after his eyesight began to fail . She soon supplemented her reading with practical experience gained from assisting her father , Edward Robinson , who was among the best whaling investors in the country . Finally , she never abandoned the learning process . She was known to scour newspapers and business reports every day to test the quality of her current and prospective investments .
The will of Sylvia Wilks honored Hetty Green ’ s lifelong belief in self-education by naming four public libraries as beneficiaries . The institutions listed to the right provide free or inexpensive access to millions of educational resources so that others may continuously expand their knowledge base at minimal cost .
The Values of the Great Value Investors
In 1792 , a small group of brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement , which became the foundation of the New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ). Soon thereafter , Wall Street became a place where countless fortunes were gained and lost . Markets were especially unforgiving to individuals who failed to tame the self-destructive instincts that thousands of years of evolution hardwired into the human brain . Even those who avoided financial ruin often ended their careers in mediocrity — suggesting that their track record was more attributable to luck than they cared to admit . Only a handful of investors defied the odds over the course of an entire lifetime . Topping the list are legends , such as Benjamin Graham , Charlie Munger , Warren Buffett and , of course , Hetty Green .
In the late 1700s , Alexander Hamilton was often lauded as a genius for resurrecting the damaged credit of the United States . But Hamilton rejected this notion , and instead explained that : “ All the genius I have lies in this ; when I have a subject in hand , I study it profoundly . Day and night it is before me . My mind becomes pervaded with it . Then the effort that I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius . It is the fruit of labor and thought .”
Hamilton ’ s point was that genius is a function of a more deeply rooted set of values , many of which are more replicable than people may assume . Hetty Green ’ s “ genius ” is explainable in similar terms . Throughout her life , she developed and adhered to an immutable set of values that guided her business , investment and lifestyle decisions . Unbeknownst to her , several of the best value investors in US history embraced similar values , which proved to be just as critical to their success .
Hetty Green ( Nov 21 , 1834 – Jul 3 , 1916 )
A Shortlist of America ’ s Greatest Value Investors
Benjamin Graham ( May 9 , 1894 – Sep 21 , 1976 )
Charlie Munger ( Jan 1 , 1924 – Nov 28 , 2023 )
Warren Buffett ( Born Aug 30 , 1930 )
• The New York Public Library , Astor , Lenox and Tilden Foundations
• The New York Society Library
• Trustees of the New Bedford Public Library
• Trustees of the Public Library of The City of Boston , in memory of Dr . Samuel Abbot Green
www . MoAF . org | Winter 2025 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 11