Founder, D.B.H. “Black” Chaffe, III
Chaffe & Associates mourns the loss of its founder, D.B.H. “Black” Chaffe, III. Black passed away at his home in DeLisle, Mississippi on August 22, 2026.
A native New Orleanian and graduate of Tulane University’s School of Engineering, Black served as an officer in the U.S. Navy before beginning a career in the securities industry in 1959. Over the next two decades, he held senior leadership positions at several prominent New Orleans investment banking and securities firms, including serving as president of Viguerie, Hayne & Chaffe and as Executive Vice President and head of Corporate Finance at Howard, Weil. In 1982, he founded Chaffe & Associates as a regional investment banking and financial advisory firm focused primarily on privately held businesses and financial institutions.
Vanessa Claiborne, CEO of Chaffe, said, “Black brought an unusual combination of intellect, curiosity, integrity and common sense to his work. He had a deep understanding of financial markets and an instinct for applying sophisticated financial concepts to practical business problems. Throughout his career, he believed that even the most rigorous financial analysis should always be tempered by sound judgment.”
Black was nationally recognized for his contributions to the field of business valuation. His seminal 1993 article, “Option Pricing as a Proxy for Discount for Lack of Marketability in Private Company Valuations,” introduced the use of an option-pricing methodology to estimate discounts for lack of marketability. The methodology became widely known in the valuation profession as the “Chaffe Model” and remains an important part of the literature on marketability discounts. More than three decades after its publication, the Chaffe Model continues to be discussed in leading valuation texts and professional literature.
Gay LeBreton, Board member said “Black also understood the importance of knowing one’s market. His memorable advice to businesspeople was to “eat what you can catch in your own river.” For Black, that meant recognizing the importance of private and family-owned businesses in the Gulf South and building a firm with the expertise to serve them.
Integrity was the foundation of Black’s approach to business. His philosophy was straightforward: Be fair. Do what is right for your employees and clients. He believed that a trusted adviser should put a client’s interests first—even when doing so meant recommending that a client not pursue a transaction or referring an engagement elsewhere. That philosophy became a defining principle of Chaffe & Associates.
Black was equally committed to the people who worked alongside him. He sought to create a collegial firm where talented professionals could build lasting careers, exercise independent judgment and place the quality of their work ahead of short-term considerations. The longevity of many of Chaffe’s professionals was something in which he took particular pride. Over the course of his career, he also became a valued mentor to countless professionals throughout the New Orleans business and financial communities. Many remembered that a call to Black—whether from a longtime colleague or someone just beginning a career—would be met generously with thoughtful advice.
His contributions extended well beyond the firm he founded. Black served on numerous corporate and civic boards, including Children’s Hospital, the World Trade Center of New Orleans and the Board of Advisors of the Tulane School of Engineering. He was also a frequent speaker and instructor on business valuation and related financial matters and served as an expert witness in securities and closely held business valuation matters.
Black once summarized the lessons of his long career simply: do a good job and remain true to yourself, your employees and your clients, and success will follow. Those principles continue to define Chaffe & Associates today.
Black leaves an enduring legacy in the firm he founded, the valuation profession he helped advance, the professionals he mentored, the clients he advised and the community he served. Chaffe & Associates is proud to carry forward the values, standards and sense of purpose he established more than four decades ago.