Top 10 Investor Quotes of All Time

Investors help fuel the economy, providing entrepreneurs and thriving businesses with the capital they need to innovate and grow. This leads to economic development, job creation, and break-throughs that change the way we look at the world. The path to becoming a millionaire or billionaire investor does more than put lots of zeroes at the end of your bank statements. It tends to leave you with some hard won wisdom. Here, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 quotes from self-made millionaire and billionaire investors to help guide you on your own path.

“There must be high risk – in fact, very high risk. It’s the key to success. If there is no risk, you have already missed the boat. Your competitors will already be there.”

— Tom Perkins
(net worth of $8B)
Founder of Sequoia Capital
Invested in AOL, Amazon.com, Google, Verisign, WebMD, and Zynga

 

“You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.”

— Warren Buffett
(net worth of $65B)
Founder of Berkshire Hathaway
Investor in American Express, DirectTV, Coca-Cola, IBM, and Wells Fargo

 

“Persist – don’t take no for an answer. If you’re happy to sit at your desk and not take any risk, you’ll be sitting at your desk for the next 20 years.”

— David Rubenstein
(net worth of $2.8B)
Co-Founder of the Carlyle Group
Investor in Dunkin’ Donuts, Oriental Trading Company, and Beats by Dre

 

“The older I get, the more I see a straight path where I want to go. If you’re going to hunt elephants, don’t get off the trail for a rabbit.”

— T. Boone Pickens
(net worth $1.4B)
Founder of BP Capital Management
Investor in Exxon, Halliburton, and Valero

 

“Live the present intensely and fully, do not let the past be a burden, and let the future be an incentive. Each person forges his or her own destiny.”

— Carlos Slim
(net worth of $70.5B)
Serial Entrepreneur
Investor in Tracfone, New York Times, and Philip Morris

 

“When most investors, including the pros, all agree on something, they’re usually wrong.”

— Carl Icahn
(net worth of $23.2B)
Founder of Icahn Enterprises
Investor in Apple (.5%), Herbalife (17%), Netflix (4.5%)

 

“The worse a situation becomes the less it takes to turn it around, the bigger the upside.”

— George Soros
(net worth of $23B)
Hedge Fund Manager
Investor in FedEx, Halliburton, and DISH Network

 

“Since one fails often, address markets that make it worthwhile when one does succeed.”

— Vinod Khosla
(net worth of $1.4B)
Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems
Investor in Quantus, iLike, and ASIC

 

“There’s nothing more invigorating than being deeply involved with a small company and a young team of founders out to do something incredibly special.”

— Michael Moritz
(net worth of $2.7B)
Chairman of Sequoia Capital
Investor in Google, Paypal, Yahoo, and LinkedIn

 

“Act now. Act with speed.”

— John Doerr
(net worth of $3.3B)
Venture Capitalist at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
Early investor in Facebook, Twitter, Google, Zynga, AOL, Groupon, Amazon, and Square