Franklin Otis Booth Jr. (September 28, 1923 – June 15, 2008) was an American billionaire newspaper executive and investor. He was a ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' executive and early investor in

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

, which made him a billionaire. Booth was also a philanthropist and a great-grandson of Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, founder of the ''Times''.

Career

During the 1950s, Booth was responsible for overseeing the printing of the newspaper. In 1968 he was named corporate vice president of Times Mirror Corporation in charge of forest products and commercial printing. Booth's tenure at the ''Times'' overlapped with that of his second cousin and close friend,

Otis Chandler Otis Chandler (November 23, 1927 – February 27, 2006) was the publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'' between 1960 and 1980, leading a large expansion of the newspaper and its ambitions. He was the fourth and final member of the Chandler fami ...

, the publisher who held the reins of the paper from 1960 to 1980. The cousins shared a passion for the outdoors; Booth, also known as Otis, surfed, fished and hunted. During his early years at the ''Times,'' Booth began investing in real estate with his friend

Charles Munger Charles Thomas Munger (January 1, 1924November 28, 2023) was an American businessman, investor, attorney and philanthropist. He was vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett, from 1978 until his death in ...

, now vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. They worked on two real estate projects in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

and quadrupled their money. It was Munger who introduced Booth to

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

in 1963. Booth's early decision to invest with Buffett left him with shares in Berkshire Hathaway amounting to a 1.4% stake in the company. Booth was a billionaire and one of the largest investors in the company, according to a 2005 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine article cited in Booth's ''Times'' obituary. In 1972 Booth retired from the ''Times'' and operated several businesses before trying his hand at citrus farming and raising livestock. Booth Ranches (brand name Otis Orchards) in the San Joaquin Valley consists of of orange groves, two citrus packinghouses and a cattle ranch.

Personal life

Booth was born September 28, 1923, in Pasadena, where he spent his youth. By age 16 he was a student at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

in 1944 and then served two years in the U.S. Naval Reserve. After his discharge he earned a master's degree in business administration and a graduate degree in engineering in 1948, both from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Over the years, Booth donated to many causes including the

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school in Los Angeles, California, with about 1,600 students in grades seven through twelve. The school has two campuses: the middle school campus in Holmby ...

and the

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are par ...

. He was married and had six children. He died June 15, 2008, in his home in Los Angeles from complications of ALS, also known as

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lo ...

References

External links

Los Angeles Times websiteBerkshire Hathaway website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth Jr., Franklin Otis 1923 births 2008 deaths American billionaires American publishing chief executives American investors American newspaper executives Berkshire Hathaway people Businesspeople from Los Angeles California Institute of Technology alumni Deaths from motor neuron disease in California Los Angeles Times people Otis family Businesspeople from Pasadena, California Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Stanford University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople