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'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' executive and early investor in

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from ...

, 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 Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

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 (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mu ...

, 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, 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 district. Its ...

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

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 w ...

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 owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' 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 or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering 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. 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 consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two prede ...

and the

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large coll ...

. 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 Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most co ...

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 Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from motor neuron disease Los Angeles Times people Otis family People from Pasadena, California Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Stanford University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople