Loeb first became known for his book The Battle for Investment Survival, which was popular during the Great Depression and is still considered a classic. Born in 1899, Loeb began his investing career in 1921 in the bond department of a brokerage firm in San Francisco, California.  He moved to New York in 1921 after joining with E. F. Hutton & Co., and became vice-chairman of the board when the company incorporated in 1962.  The Wall Street Crash of 1929 greatly affected Loeb's investing style, and in his 1971 book The Battle for Stock Market Profits, he viewed the market as a battlefield.  Loeb offered a contrarian investing viewpoint, in books and columns in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, and Investor Magazine. Forbes magazine called Loeb "the most quoted man on Wall Street." He created the Gerald Loeb Award in order to foster further quality reporting for individual investors.

The award has been administered by the UCLA Anderson School of Management since 1973, and is sponsored by the G. and R. Loeb Foundation.  It is regarded as: "business journalism's highest honor," and its "most prestigious." Beginning with just two winners in 1958 (Werner Renberg and David Steinberg) and expanding to three in the final years before the Anderson School began to administer the award,  today there are ten categories in which prizes are awarded: large newspaper, medium newspaper, small newspaper, magazine, commentary, deadline or beat writing, wire services, and television.  Those honored receive a cash prize of USD$2,000, and are presented with the award at a ceremony in July of the year following their piece's publication.  The preliminary judging committee includes business, financial and economic journalists, as well as faculty members from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Once the finalists are selected, a final panel of judges consisting of representatives from major print and broadcast outlets selects a winner from each category.  The final panel of judges is chaired by the dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.  Entries are judged according to their originality, news value, writing quality, thoroughness and balance, and production value.