Benjamin Graham
- Net worth $16 million
- Birthday May 9, 1894
- Status -
- Country United States
- Source(-s) of wealth Author, Investor, Professor
How much is Benjamin Graham Worth? Benjamin Graham Net Worth in 2026
Benjamin Graham’s net worth is estimated at $16 million as of November 2026, the buying power of about $2.7 million we think he had when he died in 1976. His fund paid about $712,500 for half of GEICO in 1948, a stake that passed $400 million about 25 years later, and by our math his household’s slice of it was only about 3 percent. He was also 82 and watching GEICO collapse in his final year.
| Net worth | $16 million at today’s prices (rough estimate, range $8 million to $40 million) |
|---|---|
| Estimated annual income | $80,215 in pay in one later Graham-Newman year, the best documented figure |
| Born | May 9, 1894, London, England |
| Died | September 21, 1976, Aix-en-Provence, France, aged 82 |
| Country | United States |
| Known for | The Intelligent Investor (1949), Security Analysis (1934), teaching Warren Buffett |
| Main income sources | Fund pay and profit share, investments, books, teaching |
How much is Benjamin Graham worth in 2026?
Our figure is what we think he had in 1976, restated at $5.92 today for each 1976 dollar, a CPI conversion. This one is a rough estimate: little of the money is documented. We opened no estate record. What we do have, thanks to old shareholder letters quoted by writer Joshua Kennon, is his actual stake in the fund in 1950 and his pay, which is more than most public estimates show.
Those estimates range from about $3 million to $20 million. Some are in 1976 dollars, some use current prices, and some seem to credit him with GEICO’s 1972 peak as though he sold at the top.
How Benjamin Graham built it
- Bought half of an insurer. In 1948 his fund paid about $712,500 for half of GEICO.
- Rebuilt after a 70 percent loss. His joint account was down 70 percent by mid-1932, and he ran Graham-Newman until 1956.
- Retired from investing at 62. He closed Graham-Newman in 1956 and retired from active investing.
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Get the Alux appHow we got to $16 million
Each row is in 1976 dollars first, then multiplied by 5.92. Retirement returns and spending are assumed to cancel out after 1956.
| Source | Our estimate | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| Fund and partnership capital | $7.6 million | A 1950 letter shows Graham and his wife with 104 fund shares, worth $128,178. His stake in the $2.57 million Newman & Graham partnership isn’t disclosed, so we assume 20 percent, or $514,000. We assume that $642,000 doubled after tax by 1956, to $1.28 million. |
| Pay saved, 1950 to 1956 | $700,000 | One later year paid $80,214.85 ($25,000 salary plus profit share). Six years at that rate is $481,000. Half to tax and half of the rest spent leaves about $120,000. |
| GEICO shares | $5.9 million | Assumption: $1 million in 1976 dollars. We don’t know when he sold. Holding everything to 1976 gives about $0.6 million to $0.9 million by the math below. Selling everything at the 1972 peak would give far more, which he is unlikely to have done. |
| Books and teaching | $1.8 million | Assumption: $300,000 from royalties and fees, kept across decades. Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor are the main sources, and no royalty figure is public. |
| Total | $16 million | Rows add to $16 million, about $2.7 million in 1976 dollars. |
The man who found GEICO kept about 3 percent
Even the price is disputed. One account says $712,500, Graham himself said $720,000 in a 1976 interview, and another says about $736,000. Then the SEC ruled that the holding broke a limit on investment companies owning insurers, and the fund distributed its GEICO shares to its own shareholders in 1948. The gain went to everyone in the fund, in proportion.
The sum, as our calculation: the fund had net assets of $4,157,478 in July 1947. Graham’s $128,178 stake, using the 1950 figure as a stand-in, is 3.1 percent of that. Apply 3.1 percent to the $400 million-plus the stake reached after about 25 years and his piece peaks near $12 million. A second route, scaling his $128,178 by the $11,413 fund holding that became about $1.66 million in GEICO by 1972, gives about $19 million. Either way, the deal’s architect held a small slice of it.
Then the stock fell 95 percent
GEICO shares fell more than 95 percent from their 1972 highs by 1976, the year Graham died. Take 5 percent of $12 million to $19 million and any shares he still held were worth $0.6 million to $0.9 million. The write-up of Graham’s March 1976 interview says GEICO teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. He died six months later, and the rebound went to his former student Warren Buffett, who bought back in that same year.
One year in 1928, more than a fund stake in 1950
Graham reported $600,000 of income in 1928. His fund stake 22 years later was $128,178, so one good year had been worth 4.7 of those stakes, by our calculation. In between came the crash: one account has the Benjamin Graham Joint Account down 70 percent by mid-1932 and holding 22 percent of its starting money by year-end. After that, pay looked modest. The 1946 terms were a $15,000 salary plus a profit share that a 1947 letter describes as 20 percent of profits over 5 percent, split with Jerome Newman. He had already reached $50,000 a year as a full partner at his old firm in 1920.
What would move the figure
The latest money event we can date is his death in September 1976. A probate record or a letter showing when he sold GEICO would replace our two largest rows. Otherwise the number only moves with inflation, and Berkshire Hathaway bought GEICO outright in 1995, so none of its later value reached him.
Benjamin Graham net worth FAQ
What was Benjamin Graham’s net worth?
About $16 million at today’s prices by our estimate, based on about $2.7 million in 1976 dollars. No estate record was available to us.
How much did Benjamin Graham make from GEICO?
We can’t say what he realised. By our math his slice peaked at $12 million to $19 million on paper around 1972, and it fell more than 95 percent by 1976.
How much did Benjamin Graham earn at Graham-Newman?
One later year paid $80,214.85: a $25,000 salary and $55,214.85 of profit share. In 1946 the salary was $15,000.
Why wasn’t Benjamin Graham a billionaire like Warren Buffett?
By our math he owned about 3 percent of the GEICO stake his fund bought, closed the fund in 1956 and retired from active investing at 62.
How old was Benjamin Graham when he died?
He was 82, and he died in Aix-en-Provence, France, on September 21, 1976.
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How we estimate net worth
Our estimates are based on public reporting, company valuations, and deal and earnings figures all compiled in an internal valuation model. They are approximate, and figures change over time as new information emerges.
Last updated: November 2026.