Irving Kahn
| Irving Kahn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 19, 1905 New York City, New York, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | City College of New York, Columbia Business School |
| Occupation | Financial analyst, investor, money manager, investment advisor |
| Employer | Kahn Brothers Group, Inc. |
| Known for | Chairman of Kahn Brothers Group, Inc. |
Irving Kahn (born December 19, 1905) is an American value investor and money manager and the oldest living active investment professional.[1] He was an early disciple of Benjamin Graham, the creator of the value investing methodology. Kahn began his career in 1928 and continues to work to this day at the age of 108. He is currently Chairman of Kahn Brothers Group, Inc., the privately owned investment advisory and broker-dealer firm that he founded with his sons, Thomas and Alan, in 1978. Although Kahn still performs an active role at the company, Thomas, who is the firm's president, runs the business and is responsible for the firm's investment decisions.
Kahn Brothers Group's principals manage a little over $950 million in funds for the clients of its subsidiaries and affiliated businesses. The company's primary investment advisory business has approximately $645 million in assets under management as of the first quarter of calendar year 2013.
Kahn is currently the oldest active money manager on Wall Street.[2] He made his first trade—a short sale of a copper mining company—in the summer of 1929, months before the infamous market crash in October of that year.[3] In addition, he, his sisters, and his brother were, collectively, the world's oldest living quartet of siblings.[4] Kahn himself is 108. His sister, Helen {nicknamed "Happy" (1901-2011)}, died seven weeks before her 110th birthday. The youngest sibling, Peter, is 103. Kahn's other sister, Lee (1903-2005), died at the age of 101.
Biographical information
Educated at the City College of New York, Kahn served as the second teaching assistant to Benjamin Graham at Columbia Business School. At the time, other notable students and/or teaching assistants to Graham included future Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett and future value investors William J. Ruane, Walter J. Schloss, and Charles Brandes, among others. Graham had such an enormous influence on his students that both Kahn and Buffett named their sons after him. Kahn named his third son, born in 1942, Thomas Graham, and Buffett, his first son, born in 1954, Howard Graham.
Kahn is a Chartered Financial Analyst and was among the first round of applicants to take the CFA exam. He was a founding member of the New York Society of Security Analysts and the Financial Analysts' Journal. Kahn was also a former director of Teleregister Corp., Hugo Stinnes Co., Grand Union Stores, Kings County Lighting, West Chemical, and Willcox & Gibbs. He was the president of the New York City Job and Career Center and is a trustee emeritus of the Jewish Foundation for Education of Women.
In a magazine article in 2002, he is quoted as saying: "I'm at the stage in life where I get a lot of pleasure out of finding a cheap stock," adding that his research still pushes him to work evenings and weekends. His son Thomas, currently President of Kahn Brothers Group, has said, "My father continues to research ideas and talk to companies. One of the nice things about this business is that there's no mandatory retirement age, and you allegedly get wiser as you get older."[5]
References
- ↑ Financial Times: "On Wall Street: Age old wisdom"
- ↑ The Financial Times: "On Wall Street: Age old wisdom"
- ↑ Barron's: "Still Going Strong"
- ↑ The Week: "The last word: The secret to living past 100"
- ↑ Bary, Andrew. 2005. "Living Legend," Barron's, December 12.
External links
- Kahn Brothers web site
- New York Stock Exchange profile, Dec. 30, 2005
- Gurufocus.com profile
- New York Society of Security Analysts
- Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women
- NYSSA Honors Irving Kahn - with pictures of Irving Kahn
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