The greatest investor unknown to the world

Have you ever heard of Herbert A. Wertheim? His fortune is estimated by Forbes as $2.3 billion, and his name can be seen on the facades of the universities sponsored by him. During his life, this 80-year-old entrepreneur has achieved significant success by building the company Brain Power that produces laboratory equipment, detergents and accessories for opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. Today, it owns more than 100 patents and copyrights in the field of optics, thus bringing the owner about $25 million a year.

But it is not the business achievements that allow Herbie to live in a $16 million house by the ocean, own a ranch near a ski resort in Colorado, and spend the winter months in his own apartments on the largest luxury permanent residence ship named The World.

Wertheim can be called the greatest of all the little-known investors. His ability to invest in technology projects has earned him billions over the past 50 years: according to the reports by the Fidelity Holding Company, he owns hundreds of millions of dollars in Apple and Microsoft shares alone.

One of Wertheim's main principles is the following: "Invest in what you know." This strategy became popular in 1989, after the book "One Up on Wall Street" by Peter Lynch, a manager of Fidelity Magellan Fund, was published. The author proved that you can achieve success in investing using your own experience and special knowledge.

Following this rule, Herbie does not focus on financial reports, but carefully re-reads patents and studies the technical documentation of the projects that are of interest for him for 12 hours a week. "For me, intellectual capital which you can grow further with is more important" he comments on the method of selecting promising companies. His knowledge of mechanical engineering, the technical nature of optometry, and the patents obtained by Brain Power helped Wertheim see the potential in the shares of IBM, 3M, and Intel when these companies were just entering the market. Today, his investments have grown hundreds of times, turning from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.

Just like Warren Buffett, Herbert Wertheim believes that the shares of reliable companies are worth buying even during the devaluation period if the value of the product is confirmed by the patents and has long-term prospects.

Despite dozens of well-known names in the investment portfolio, from General Electric and Google to British Petroleum and Bank of America, the investor is particularly proud of the Microsoft shares purchased in 1986, when the corporation was first launched on the stock exchange. Even then, Wertheim was very good at computers and even participated in designing them. This knowledge helped him realize the prospects of developing the future giant and invest in its development.

Herbie spends the income from the large portfolio of securities on a comfortable life for himself and his family, and also uses it for making completely new investments. His constant habit of investing part of the earned money in shares of innovative companies made Wertheim a rich man and gave him the opportunity to live the life of his dreams.