Warren Buffett on his best investment and the book that influenced him the most

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett, one of the world's best-known investors, began writing his success story at a very young age. Buffett wrote in a Forbes magazine article in 2017 that he had extensively read up on investing by the time he was 11.

Warren Buffett, inspired by his businessman father Howard Graham Buffett, went on to lead Berkshire Hathaway, which owns over 60 companies.

One of them, Buffett said, was his favourite one to invest in.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired auto insurance company Geico in 1995. Buffett said Geico embodied the investment philosophy he believed in -- of finding a durable business with competitive edge, run by honest and able people.

Buffett recalled a life-changing meeting with Lorimer Davidson, who would become the chief executive officer of Geico. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO was 20 at that time.

"He answered my questions, taught me the insurance business and explained to me the competitive advantage that Geico had," Buffett said. "That afternoon changed my life."

Buffett added that he learnt his investment philosophy from the book Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.

"I bought the book that became the largest influence on my investing life by accident, while I was at the University of Nebraska. I read and reread The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham, about half a dozen times--it's incredibly sound philosophy, very well written and easy to understand," Buffett said.

For Buffett, there is one area of investment that takes precedence over all others -- investing in oneself.

"Address whatever you feel your weaknesses are, and do it now," Buffett wrote in Forbes magazine. "I was terrified of public speaking when I was young. I couldn't do it. It cost me $100 to take a Dale Carnegie course, and it changed my life."