Charles R. Blyth

Charles R. Blyth (July 31, 1883 – August 25, 1959) was an investment banker, a co-founder of Blyth, Witter & Co., the first investment bank in the Western United States, which later became Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co. He was a patron of the arts and a political fund raiser.

Early life Blyth was born in Ohio, and in 1905 he graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1908, he moved to California. In 1922, Blyth returned briefly to the East Coast to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral for Amherst's president George Harris.

Investment

Blyth worked for financier Louis Sloss & Co. in 1910, where he met coworker Dean G. Witter. Sloss colleague John D. "Jack" Hartigan was hired as an employee, to sell bonds. The company's young file clerk, Frank Weeden, would later pioneer the "Third market" of over-the-counter trading. The initial funding was composed of $50,000 loaned from the Bank of California, $10,000 loaned from Witter's mother, and whatever price Blyth got for selling his car. Blyth Witter was formally established on April 18, 1914, based out of offices in the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco. Sloss aided the new firm with a gift of his office furniture and his customer files.

Blyth Witter initially funded public utilities such as Mt. Whitney Power and Electric. Witter's cousin Jean Carter Witter joined the company in 1916 after he graduated from the University of California.

In 1917 when the U.S. entered direct involvement in World War I, a number of Blyth Witter people were commissioned officers in the U.S. Army, including Hartigan, Leib, and both Witters. The Russ Building skyscraper was paid for by Blyth, and when it opened in 1927 the Blyth firm moved its offices there.

In 1928, Blyth bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, and was mentioned in The Wall Street Journal for the first time. He served as president of the Philharmonic Society of San Mateo County; a group that produced a symphony series at the Woodland Amphitheatre. Blyth also served as the vice president of the board of the San Francisco Symphony as well as the San Francisco Opera. Blyth helped raise money for the American Cancer Society, and many other charities. He served as chairman of the California Olympic Commission, formed to produce the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. He was a member of the Bohemian Club, the Pacific-Union Club, and other clubs such as the Links Club in New York City. For Stanford University, Blyth served as a trustee, and also as a director of Stanford Research Institute. He was also a trustee of the De Young museum and St. Luke's Hospital, both in San Francisco, and the Mills-Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo. Architecturally significant, the house was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey.

In 1940, Blyth quit smoking, and he established a no-smoking policy at his office. Blyth died at Strawberry Hill in August 1959, of heart failure. At his death Blyth had eight grandchildren. His widow Katharine Blyth died May 12, 1975.

Legacy Because of Blyth's leadership in the early effort to prepare for the 1960 Winter Olympics, Blyth Arena at Squaw Valley was named for him. In 2010, the fund held about $140,000, despite 25% of profits being transferred each year to the university's general fund. The students' investment decisions typically perform better than the S&P 500.