Heroes and Zeros

When it comes to money matters, 2008 served up an unusually rich cast of saints and sinners. Here is our highly subjective list of who we love and who we love to hate.

1 of 11
BACKNEXT
Hero: Warren Buffett
Chairman/CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

"I don't worry too much about pointing fingers at the past. I operate on the theory that every saint has a past, every sinner has a future." -- CNNMoney.com, Oct. 2, 2008

While other investors quaked, Buffett wasn't afraid to step up and put new money in the stock market, even taking big stakes in General Electric and Goldman Sachs this fall. Check out his eloquent New York Times editorial, "Buy America. I Am," to find out why.

He inspired confidence in investors and gave a nervous public clear, thoughtful reasons not to panic (and likely prevented some folks from taking all their retirement money out of stocks and locking in losses).

Another reason to love Buffett: He has warned for years about the dangers of derivatives, excessive CEO pay and investing in anything you don't understand. In both his words and actions in 2008, this legendary investor shone. --D.R.
NEXT: Hero: Sheila Bair
Last updated December 12 2008: 6:01 AM ET
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Special Offer

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.