William J. Ruane

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William John Ruane (born October 24, 1925 in Chicago , Illinois , † October 4, 2005 in New York ) was an American value investor , fund manager and New York philanthropist . He is one of the people mentioned in the essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville .

Ruane grew up in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park . In 1945 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in electrical engineering with a cum laude distinction . After a brief deployment in the Pacific War against Japan in the same year, he initially took a position at the US company General Electric . However, he soon regretted his choice of profession and enrolled again for a degree at Harvard Business School , where he came into contact with the teachings of Benjamin Graham in a seminar at Columbia University and met Warren Buffett . After graduating in 1949, Ruane worked for the Boston bank Kidder, Peabody & Co. for 20 years .

When Buffett gave up his investment company Buffett Partnership in favor of Berkshire Hathaway in 1969 , Ruane founded an investment company with a partner and set up an equity fund for Buffett's former business partner, the Sequoia Fund. Its profit development left the US benchmark index S&P 500 well behind for decades, but had severe difficulties at the start. The fund lagged significantly behind the S&P 500 in the first two years. According to Ruanes, he and his partner hardly dared to respond to inquiries from investors during this time.

Throughout his life, Ruane was particularly involved in the education of socially disadvantaged children and young people and in the health sector. The City of New York owes William Ruane the Carmel Hill Project, the redevelopment of a run-down block on Fifth Avenue and 118th Street in the New York borough of Harlem . He also established a teaching program for 26 schools in New York and 19 schools in Monroe . He also initiated the " TeenScreen " initiative , which offers a free test for teenagers across the US with regard to depression and the risk of suicide .

Ruane died of lung cancer on October 4, 2005 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center . He was married and had four children.

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personal data
SURNAME Ruane, William J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ruane, William John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American value investor, fund manager, and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH October 4, 2005
Place of death new York