Founder of the Aquamarine Fund and author of "The Education of a Value Investor" — a Zurich-based investor best known for his charity lunch with Warren Buffett.
Life story
Guy Spier was born in 1966 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and later attended the City of London Freemen's School in the UK. Little public information is available about his parents.
At Brasenose College, Oxford, he first read law and then, from 1986, Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He went on to study at Harvard Business School.
How they got started
From 1988 to 1990 he worked at the strategy consultancy Braxton Associates (later acquired by Deloitte), and then in investment banking. After leaving investment banking he founded the Aquamarine Fund.
In 2007 he and Mohnish Pabrai bid $650,100 at a charity auction to win a lunch with Warren Buffett. Spier says the meeting changed how he approached investing and life, and in 2014 he wrote about it in "The Education of a Value Investor".
In 2003 he was among the investors — along with David Einhorn, Bill Ackman and Whitney Tilson — investigated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over short sales of Farmer Mac, MBIA and Allied Capital; their skepticism was later borne out in the 2008 crisis.
Investment style
Aquamarine describes its philosophy as inspired by Buffett's 1950s partnerships, with an emphasis on value-investing principles and sensible capital allocation.
Spier sees himself as a devoted follower of Buffett's approach and puts real weight on investor education: he publishes a recommended-reading list on his site and runs the YouTube channel "The Education of a Value Investor".
Best decisions
The Buffett lunch and the book
Winning lunch with Buffett at the 2007 charity auction made Spier well known in the value-investing community, and his 2014 book — candid about his own mistakes — became a guide for many young investors.
Short thesis (2003)
The doubts Spier and others raised about financial companies such as MBIA and Allied Capital triggered an investigation in 2003, but the 2008 financial crisis showed their analysis had been right.
Biggest mistakes
Horsehead Holding bankruptcy (2016)
Spier was a Horsehead Holding shareholder and in 2016, during its bankruptcy, petitioned with Phil Town and Matthew Peterson for an official equity committee. Bankruptcy was a painful outcome for shareholders; the sources we reviewed do not state the size of his loss.
Today
As of 2026 Spier is 60, lives in Zurich with his family and continues to run Aquamarine; the fund's 13F is filed by Aquamarine Zurich AG. He promotes investor education through talks, YouTube and his personal website.
What to learn from following the portfolio
- For a Buffett-style investor like Spier, the most interesting signals are new positions and long-held ones; analyse each change yourself rather than following blindly.
- His holdings often overlap with Buffett, Pabrai and other value investors — a stock owned by several superinvestors is interesting, but do your own analysis before copying.
- The 13F shows only US-listed stocks and lags by up to 45 days; positions in Europe and other markets may not appear.
- Islamic-finance lens: Buffett-style portfolios frequently include banks, insurers and financial conglomerates such as Berkshire Hathaway, which can be problematic in halal screening. Check each position's halal status on the Portfolio tab.
An introduction based on public sources — not investment advice. Spotted an error? Let us know.