7 Years Ago Today
Hedge fund titan, giant of philanthropy leaps to his death after stroke
By Emily Smith and Dana Sauchelli
December 24, 2013 | 7:10am
The former Wall Street hedge fund titan — who donated hundreds of millions to charity — left a note before leaping at about 11 a.m. from the 16th floor of the famed San Remo, which overlooks Central Park West, cops said.
“He was 86 and suffered a stroke a few months ago,” said Wilson’s friend, Stephen Viscusi.
“He always said he didn’t want to suffer, and when the time came, he would be ready.”
A Detroit native, Wilson rose from humble beginnings to becoming nearly a billionaire, after starting his firm, Wilson Associates, with just $15,000.
He would eventually build a Wall Street fortune, which was estimated by Business Week in 2000 to be worth about $800 million.
https://nypost.com/2013/12/24/moguls-death-leap/
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Other interesting connections on Mr. Wilson
Bill Gates told that his charity pledge is ‘worthless’
Robert W. Wilson, a well-known philanthropist who had given away $600 million of his fortune as of 2013, abruptly turned aside Gate’s 2010 request that he sign the Giving Pledge.
The pledge pushes billionaires to give away a bulk of their fortune while they are alive, or in their will….
…“I’m going to stay far away from your effort,” Wilson told Gates in the same e-mail.…
The Microsoft co-founder, worth $78.5 billion, admitted to Wilson in a reply e-mail three days later that “some people set up a foundation without a strong focus or leadership and with high overhead.”
He told Wilson the group of pledge signers “would benefit from your joining in.”
Wilson, by signing the pledge, could inspire younger people to increase their giving, Gates wrote.
Wilson, in a second e-mail to Gates, was a bit more testy.
“You, being a liberal, think you can change people more than I think,” he wrote….
And this interesting bit on how the next generation is "selected:"
Wilson zeroed in on Gates’ “younger” people focus.
“When I talk to young people who seem destined for great success, I tell them to forget about charities and giving,” Wilson replied to Gates. “Concentrate on your families and getting rich — which I found very hard work.”
https://nypost.com/2014/01/01/bill-gates-told-that-his-charity-pledge-is-worthless/