Tweedy, Browne's Chris Browne Dies of Heart Attack

Tweedy, Browne Company posted a letter on its Web site Monday indicating that Chris Browne died of a heart attack on Sunday, Dec. 13.

With a tenure spanning 40 years, Chris Browne formally took a step back from his daily involvement and became a senior advisor to the firm earlier this year, according to the letter.

Tweedy Browne's history is virtually the history of value investing. The firm began as a broker for the small, underfollowed stocks that Benjamin Graham purchased, and it also bought Warren Buffett his first shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Additionally, Walter Schloss, Buffett's colleague when he worked for Graham, used to work out of Tweedy's offices, when he opened his own investment partnership.

Christopher Browne distinguished himself not only as a first-rate investor, but also as an admirable teacher. His book, The Little Book of Value Investing, is an easy-to-read introduction to the often intimidating topic of financial statement analysis. Browne effortlessly guides the reader through the major points of analyzing balance sheets and income statements, and even delves into some of the finer points of international accounting.

Additionally, he co-authored Tweedy Browne's report entitled "What Has Worked in Investing," which deftly weaves modern academic research questioning the efficient market hypothesis with the writings of Graham advocating investing in low P/E and P/B stocks.

Videos of Browne lecturing business students at Columbia Business School can be found here.