(RightWing.org) – Sometimes the mega-wealthy will attempt to use their money to become kingmakers like Hungarian-born George Soros and his family try to do by spending their billions to prop up Progressive and Liberal political candidates or to destroy Conservatives such as former President Donald Trump. Others will use it to effect change in society by spreading their largess to help those who have a burning altruistic desire of their own but don’t have the financial wherewithal to make their dreams come true.
Giving Back
Ruth Gottesman, Ed.D., joined the staff of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx borough of New York City in 1968, according to the institution’s website. She was a pioneer in recognizing and diagnosing childhood developmental problems that were flying under the radar at that point in time.
Her husband of more than six decades, David “Sandy” Gottesman, left her a special bequest from his estate when he died at the age of 96 in 2022, telling her to do whatever she thought was the right thing to do with it. In the end, she decided to donate it to the place where she had dedicated her professional life and gave $1 billion to the medical school so that future students may attend — tuition-free — in perpetuity.
Mrs. Gottesman’s generosity will relieve a great burden for those who would have found a way to pursue careers in medicine even if it meant taking on a crushing amount of debt. According to 2023 data published by the Education Data Initiative, medical school graduates end up carrying roughly $203,000 in student loans for just that portion of their education (excluding undergrad/premed borrowing), which some experts say can take as long as 20 years to pay off.
The Gottesman fortune came from his willingness to invest in a friend when he wanted to take over an investment firm by the name of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965. From that point, Warren Buffett’s ride to the pinnacle of America’s most wealthy individuals (number four on the Forbes 400 list in 2023) allowed Gottesman’s trust to grow into a rather large pile of cash.
Business Insider reports that as of December 31, 2023, the company’s stock price has increased more than 4,400,000% since its founding. Put another way, had one invested $100 in 1965 and was still holding their shares today, their investment would now be worth over $400 million.
While the current donation by Ruth Gottesman is so staggering that it is believed to be one of the largest ever given to a place of higher learning, it is not the first that she and her husband have made to Albert Einstein College. The couple gifted the medical school with $25 million in 2008 for various research projects, including the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, which is named after them.
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