Louis Allen Simpson was born in Chicago on Dec. 23, 1936, the son of Irving and Lillian Simpson, and grew up in nearby Highland Park.
He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1958, and earned a master’s degree in economics from Princeton University, in New Jersey, two years later. He was an economics instructor at Princeton in 1961 and 1962 and sat on the board of the management company for the school’s endowment from 2007 to 2013, according to the university.
Chicago Move
Simpson was CEO of Western Asset Management in California before joining Geico, according to a 2010 Chicago Tribune article. While he was living in San Diego, he met Querrey, his second wife, on a business trip to Chicago. The couple lived in Chicago before moving to Florida upon his retirement from Geico.
He told the newspaper that his “eclectic” approach to investing required a lot of work.
“I try to read all company documents carefully,” Simpson told the Tribune. “We try to talk to competitors. We try to find people more knowledgeable about the business than we are. We do not rely on Wall Street-generated research. We do our own research. We try to meet with top management.”
Among their charitable giving, Simpson and Querrey donated $20 million to Princeton in June 2016 for a building to house international programs. They gave more than $100 million to Northwestern University in Illinois to encourage biomedical research.
Avoided Spotlight
During his years at Geico, Simpson avoided the spotlight even as his deft investment moves drew public praise from the most famous stock picker on the planet.
“I typically learn of Lou’s transactions about ten days after the end of each month,” Buffett said in his shareholders’ letter in 2005. “Sometimes, it should be added, I silently disagree with his decisions. But he’s usually right.”
Survivors include his wife; three sons, Irving, Kenneth and Edward; plus four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
—With assistance from Miles Weiss and Janet Lorin.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.