It all started with chocolate pudding.

When they were young, brothers David and Tom Gardner learned about stocks and the business world from their father at the supermarket. Dad, a lawyer and economist, would tell them, See that pudding? We own the company that makes it! Every time someone buys that pudding, it's good for our company. So go get some more!

The lesson stuck and in 1993 The Motley Fool began when David and Tom published a newsletter with a simple stated goal: to educate, amus ...