William J. Ruane (October 24, 1925 – October 4, 2005) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Ruane graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

in 1945 with a degree in electrical engineering and from Harvard Business School in 1949. He enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and was on his way to Japan when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

ended. He met

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

at an investment seminar with

value investing Value investing is an investment paradigm that involves buying securities that appear underpriced by some form of fundamental analysis. The various forms of value investing derive from the investment philosophy first taught by Benjamin Graham an ...

guru Benjamin Graham and he and Buffett became lifelong friends. When Buffett closed his investment group in 1969, he advised associates to consider investing with Ruane as they both employed Graham's value investing techniques. Ruane founded his own investment firm, Ruane Cunniff, with partner Rick Cunniff in 1970, and the same year they launched their flagship Sequoia Fund. Ruane's firm was renamed Ruane, Cunniff, and Goldfarb in 2004, when Robert Goldfarb became president. In 2008, the Sequoia Fund announced it would open its fund to new investors for the first time since 1982. In 1992 he adopted a block in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

neighborhood of New York City, committed to make it a better place, renovating buildings and establishing clinics and community service programs. Ruane gave every child on the block a scholarship to a Catholic school. He also funded programs at public schools and schools on

Indian reservations An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

, and contributed to mental health causes.

Death

He died at

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute� ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, aged 79 (several weeks before his 80th birthday) of lung cancer.

Personal life

William J. Ruane resided in Manhattan and

Washington, Connecticut Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. The population was 3,646 at the 2020 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active civi ...

. He was married twice his first wife predeceased him his second wife to whom he was married at the time of his death was Joy. He had offspring his sons were William Jr., who lived in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

, and Thomas, of

.; his daughters were Elizabeth "Lili" Ruane, of Burlington, Vermont, and Paige Ruane, of New York City; he had a sibling, Patricia Lowry, of

Kihei Kihei ( haw, Kīhei, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 21,423 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Kihei is located at (20.759122, −156.45722 ...

, Maui,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Washington Post''

Storied Sequoia Fund to reopen
1925 births 2005 deaths American investors American money managers Philanthropists from Illinois Businesspeople from Chicago Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Harvard Business School alumni University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub

Death

Personal life

See also

References

External links