Ruth Gottesman, the widow of Warren Buffett‘s colleague David Gottesman, recently announced a $1-billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.
Medical students will receive free tuition thanks to the pledge. It’s considered one of the largest charitable donations to a U.S. school and potentially the largest donation to a medical school in history, as shared by the New York Times.
Gottesman, who is a former professor at the Bronx medical school, is currently the chair of the board of trustees. She did not want the donation to lead to renaming the school (It will remain named after renowned physicist Albert Einstein).
Instead, Gottesman hopes the donation helps new doctors so they don’t have to begin their medical careers in debt. It’ll also help a wider pool of students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the school get admitted.
Related Link: Warren Buffett Shares Advice On Succeeding At Life: Here’s How Your Obituary Could Be Involved
Connection To Buffett: Ruth Gottesman is the widow of David Gottesman, known to many as “Sandy.”
David Gottesman was a protégé of Buffett, who is well-known for his own philanthropic efforts. He was also a director on the Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKBRK board, of which Buffett is chair and CEO.
David also ran his own investment firm, First Manhattan, and ranked the richest person on the Forbes 400 list. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 96.
"He left me, unbeknownst to me, a whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock," Ruth Gottesman told the New York Times.
The doctor said her husband’s instructions were clear: "Do whatever you think is right with it."
Ruth Gottesman hopes her late husband is “smiling and not frowning" about the gift to the school.
"He gave me the opportunity to do this, and I think he would be happy,” she said. “I hope so."
Berkshire Hathaway shares were one of the best-performing stocks for many decades under Buffett's leadership. It often outperforms the broader stock market indexes. The firm’s shares are up over 100% for the last five years and over 230% for the last 10 years.
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