Richard T Cunniff

Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb mourns the passing of our co-founder and longtime vice chairman, Richard T. Cunniff, at the age of 91. Rick was the consummate stock analyst, a true gentleman and a proud veteran of World War II. Rick's life was profoundly affected by his military service. As a 21-year old Ensign and later Lieutenant (jg) on an amphibious ship, he participated in some of the most intense naval battles of the war, including Leyte Gulf in October 1944. His ship made landings at Lingayen Gulf and Luzon in the Philippines and Okinawa in 1945. In later years, Rick would occasionally remark that no stock market disturbance could compare to being 21 years old on the deck of a small vessel in the Pacific, surrounded by enemy ships and kamikaze planes, taking fire. Rick completed his degree at Colgate in 1945 and graduated from Harvard Business School in 1950. Upon graduation from Harvard, Rick joined Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York City, where he met his future business partner William J. Ruane. Rick advanced through a series of Wall Street positions until the late 1960s, when he and Ruane decided to start their own investment firm. In 1969, they opened Ruane, Cunniff & Stires. They launched what would become their flagship mutual fund, Sequoia, in July 1970. Both the Fund and the investment manager, now known as Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, have thrived. Rick was married for 64 years to the former Marilyn Feld. She survives him, as do four of their five children: Richard Jr., Peter, Hilary and Jeanne Foussard. His beloved eldest daughter Carley, who worked beside him at Ruane, Cunniff for many years and was a director of Sequoia, died in 2005.