IRVING KAHN

KAHN--Irving, born December 19, 1905, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at his home in New York, NY. He was husband to the late Ruth Perl Kahn; son to Esther (Mamie) and Saul Kahn; father of the late Donald W. Kahn PhD and of Alan R. Kahn and Thomas G. Kahn CFA; brother of the late Peter Keane, the late Leonore (Lee) Reichart and the late Helen (Happy) Reichert; grandfather of Tamar McNally, Jeremy Kahn, Amanda Kahn-Kirby PhD, Kimberly Kahn DVM, Andrew Kahn, Elizabeth Kahn and Victoria Kahn; and great- grandfather of Nina, Kaitlin, Minjonet, Julia, Maia, Miles, Manndon and Maxannie. Irving Kahn was born in New York City. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and attended the City College of New York. He also studied at Columbia Business School under the late Benjamin Graham, who became Irving's mentor and was one of Wall Street's early proponents of value investing and fundamental security analysis. Irving began his career on Wall Street in 1928 working for the firms Hammerschlag, Borg & Co. and H. Hentz & Co. It was at Hentz that he met Graham, a client of that firm who taught Columbia Business School's well-known class on value investing. Irving introduced himself to Graham and started to sit in on his class. Graham eventually appointed Irving as his teaching assistant, which began what would become a lifelong friendship and mentorship. Irving would assist Graham in research for his landmark text "Security Analysis," as well as "Storage and Stability" and "World Commodities and World Currencies." Irving also met, Ruth, his wife of 65 years in Graham's class. Irving worked for the firm of Loab, Rhoades & Co. and then Wertheim & Co. After the war, he became a partner at the firm J.R. Willison, where he met his longtime associate William F. DeLuca who worked with Irving for the rest of his career. Irving then became a partner of Abraham & Company, which was acquired by Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb. He continued at Lehman Brothers, running the Kahn investment team until 1978, when he and his sons, Thomas and Alan, founded the New York StockExchange member firm, Kahn Brothers & Co. (now Kahn Brothers Group). Irving assumed the role of Chairman of the firm, a title he held until 2014 when he became Chairman Emeritus. Thomas is currently its President. From its beginnings, the firm practiced and continues to practice a modified value investing strategy that was inspired by the lessons Benjamin Graham taught Irving over many decades. Irving was a founding member of the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA), the largest CFA member society in the world, and the Financial Analysts Journal, its investment research publication. He was an early supporter of security analyst education and took the CFA exam in its first year (earning Charter #240). He was honored for his work by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the occasion of his 100th birthday and, in 2011, was the inaugural recipient of NYSSA's Irving Kahn Lifetime Achievement Award. Irving was also involved with numerous charitable organizations, including the New York City Job and Career Center, which he founded with the late Seymour Durst, and the Ackerman Institute for the Family, a charity for which his wife was a passionate supporter. Mr. Kahn and his siblings received much attention for their remarkable longevity. Each exceeded the age of 100, a statistically rare occurrence. Together, they were, for a time, among the oldest living siblings in the world. They participated in numerous research studies on longevity (including those at Yeshiva University's Einstein College of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine) with the goal of aiding a discovery that might benefit the healthy and active aging of people around the world. A graveside funeral is planned for the family, and a memorial celebration of Irving Kahn's life will be held on a date to be announced. Irving Kahn was an inspiration to so many. He was a patriarch, a teacher and, most of all, a beloved relative and friend. He will be sorely missed by all.

The Kahn Family