William J. Ruane, an investment manager whose extensive philanthropy included revitalizing a block in Harlem with new housing, a health clinic and scholarships for children, has died in New York. He was 79.
He died Tuesday of complications from lung cancer, said Bob Goldfarb, president of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, of which Mr. Ruane was chairman.
Mr. Ruane built a reputation on Wall Street as an old-fashioned value investor, an expert at delving into a company's business and books to discover hidden worth. The champion of this mode of investing, Warren Buffett, steered many of the company's original customers to Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb.
The company is best known for its Sequoia Fund, a mutual fund that overall outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 since its inception in 1970, although in some individual years it trailed the popular market index.
Mr. Ruane's large contributions to charity centered on educational and mental health causes. One project cultivated reading among children at risk.
William John Ruane was born Oct. 24, 1925, in Chicago, and grew up in Oak Park. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1945 with a cum laude degree in electrical engineering. He immediately joined the Navy and was on the way to Japan when World War II ended.
After the war, he found he disliked engineering.
He attended Harvard Business School, later crediting the book "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd with helping focus his interest.
In 1950, Mr. Ruane and Buffett attended a seminar by Graham. In 1969, when Buffett gave his partners a chance to buy Berkshire Hathaway stock or take cash, Buffett recommended only one investment manager to those who chose cash: Mr. Ruane.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/chi-0510090280oct09,1,3621642.story
New York Times News Service
Published October 9, 2005
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He died Tuesday of complications from lung cancer, said Bob Goldfarb, president of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, of which Mr. Ruane was chairman.
Mr. Ruane built a reputation on Wall Street as an old-fashioned value investor, an expert at delving into a company's business and books to discover hidden worth. The champion of this mode of investing, Warren Buffett, steered many of the company's original customers to Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb.
The company is best known for its Sequoia Fund, a mutual fund that overall outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 since its inception in 1970, although in some individual years it trailed the popular market index.
Mr. Ruane's large contributions to charity centered on educational and mental health causes. One project cultivated reading among children at risk.
William John Ruane was born Oct. 24, 1925, in Chicago, and grew up in Oak Park. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1945 with a cum laude degree in electrical engineering. He immediately joined the Navy and was on the way to Japan when World War II ended.
After the war, he found he disliked engineering.
He attended Harvard Business School, later crediting the book "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd with helping focus his interest.
In 1950, Mr. Ruane and Buffett attended a seminar by Graham. In 1969, when Buffett gave his partners a chance to buy Berkshire Hathaway stock or take cash, Buffett recommended only one investment manager to those who chose cash: Mr. Ruane.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/chi-0510090280oct09,1,3621642.story
New York Times News Service
Published October 9, 2005
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