Charity by a 93-year-old: $1 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stocks!

The article is a compilation from Securities China and the internet.

On February 27th, Ruth Gotthelf, the widow of New York financial mogul David Gotthelf, announced a donation of $1 billion (approximately 7.2 billion RMB) worth of Berkshire Hathaway stocks to permanently waive tuition fees for a medical school.

After the donation was announced, students in the classroom collectively cheered. When she uttered the words "tuition-free," the students in the auditorium erupted in cheers, applause filled the hall, people jumped out of their seats, and some even shed tears.

The students' joy naturally stems from the relief of the high tuition fees being waived:

Medical school tuition fees in the United States have been rising year after year (Source: AAMC).

At the age of 93, Ruth's husband, David Gotthelf, was a close friend of the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett, a director of Berkshire Hathaway, and the founder of the New York investment management company First Manhattan Corporation. In 2022, with a net worth of $3.4 billion, David Gotthelf ranked 883rd on the Forbes Global Billionaires List for 2022. In September 2022, David Gotthelf passed away at the age of 96.

Huge Donation

According to reports from The New York Times and other media outlets, the 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier recently announced a donation of $1 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, to cover the students' tuition fees.

The donor's name is Ruth Gotthelf. In a press release, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine stated that Ruth Gotthelf's donation is so substantial that the money will permanently cover the students' tuition fees at the medical school. All current fourth-year students will receive reimbursement for their spring 2024 tuition. Starting from August, all current and future students will attend school for free.

Ruth's husband, David Gotthelf, left behind a substantial estate when he passed away in 2022. The extent of David Gotthelf's wealth even surprised Ruth. In an interview, Ruth said, "He left me a whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stocks without my knowledge." He told her, "Do what you think is right." At first, Ruth didn't know how to handle this huge inheritance, but this week she made a decision to donate all the money to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the poorest Bronx area of New York City. Ruth said, "I want to support the students at Einstein College so they can be free from tuition fees."

Ruth is an honorary professor of pediatric clinical medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. According to the school's press release, she began her career at the college in 1968. From 2007 to 2014, she served as the chair of the board of directors. It's reported that the annual tuition at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine exceeds $59,000, and many graduates have debts exceeding $200,000.

Ruth said her donation will enable new doctors to start their careers without medical school debt, which typically exceeds $200,000. She also hopes this will expand the student body, including those who cannot afford the cost of medical school.

Buffett's Friend

Ruth's husband, David Gottesman, was one of Warren Buffett's earliest "discoverers." Not only was he Buffett's friend, but he also became a billionaire by investing in Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Later, Gottesman founded the New York investment management company First Manhattan Company, which currently manages over $20 billion in client assets.

In 2022, David Gottesman ranked 883rd on the Forbes Global Billionaires List with a wealth of $3.4 billion. Most of his wealth comes from his 6,402 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock. He was an early investor in the company and a member of the board of directors.

David Gottesman was born on April 26, 1926. His father was the financial manager and vice president of Hudson Trading Company. He had a close friendship with Berkshire Hathaway founder Buffett for over 60 years. It is known that as early as 1962, David Gottesman met Buffett and they became friends. In January 1968, Buffett invited a dozen investors to a meeting with his mentor Graham, and David Gottesman was one of them. Among this group of people was also Munger, who later became Buffett's closest comrade for life, and they have been meeting regularly since then.

In 2009, David Gottesman said in a media interview, "At first, we (Buffett and others) talked more about stocks. We discussed what makes a good company, what makes a bad company, and so on. But now, we talk more about inflation and charity, and what mistakes we have made, in terms of taxation or regulation, what important things we should consider."

In 2017, David Gottesman also talked about his long-standing friendship with Buffett in the HBO documentary "Becoming Warren Buffett." He mentioned that they enhanced their friendship by playing golf together and discussing stocks they both believed were undervalued over weekly phone calls.

It is worth noting that reports suggest that Buffett's inspiration for heavily investing in Apple stock in 2016 originally came from David Gottesman. That year, David Gottesman accidentally dropped his iPhone from his pocket while riding in a taxi, leaving him anxious all day. After hearing about this, Buffett was surprised by his friend's deep affection for an item. Therefore, Buffett decided to thoroughly study Apple Inc. and its products. Currently, Apple is the largest holding in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, with 906 million shares valued at around $174 billion, accounting for 50% of its holdings.

In September 2022, 96-year-old David Gottesman passed away. Before his death, David Gottesman made several charitable donations, including a $25 million donation to Yeshiva University in 2008. According to Forbes, David Gottesman donated over $330 million to charitable causes throughout his life.

How much profit did he make in the end?

In 1964, David Gottesman co-founded the investment advisory firm First Manhattan Co., which currently manages over $20 billion in assets.

David Gottesman held 6,402 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock and served on the company's board of directors. In 2012, David Gottesman wrote, "In the history of Wall Street, the return on holding any stock for 44 years may never have been this high." By then, his stocks had grown to 6,000 times their initial value. This was the cornerstone of his financial success, and at the time of his death, his net worth was around $3 billion.

From 2012 to the present, Berkshire Hathaway's stock price has quadrupled (from over $100,000 to over $600,000), resulting in David Gottesman's return of around 24,000 times. Therefore, a $1 billion donation would be equivalent to only about $40,000 at the time.

Berkshire Hathaway's cumulative return exceeded 43,800 times over 60 years, while the S&P 500 index return was 312 times during the same period.

Netizen Comments

Some netizens commented that great people do great things.

It is worth mentioning that at the end of December last year, Duan Yongping also donated 1 billion RMB to his alma mater, Zhejiang University:

[Images are not translatable and are omitted] Just now, Zhejiang University officially announced: another significant donation from outstanding alumni, totaling over 1 billion RMB!