[5] His father served as president of the National American Insurance Co. of Omaha.
[5] He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a bachelor's degree in business and finance in 1949.
[6] He served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of H. F. Ahmanson & Co. from 1969 to 1984.
[7] Over the course of his career, he supported many venues related to the arts and sciences,[8] including the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, the California Institute of the Arts, and the Doheny Eye Institute.
[3][9] As a philatelist, he donated his extensive collection of Canadian stamps from British Columbia, Vancouver Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland to the National Postal Museum.