The video features Leon Cooperman, a self-made billionaire and philanthropist, narrating his journey from humble beginnings to stock market legend. Cooperman shares how his early life in the Bronx shaped his work ethic and determination, ultimately leading him to a successful career in finance, including 25 years at Goldman Sachs and founding Omega Advisors. He emphasizes the importance of intuition, passion, and doing what you love, revealing how these values significantly contributed to his success.

Having achieved substantial wealth, Cooperman discusses his commitment to philanthropy, channeling his resources towards education, healthcare, and the arts. Notably, he has made significant donations to institutions like St. Barnabas Hospital and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), illustrating his belief in giving back to society. His approach to wealth highlights the responsibility he feels to recycle his fortunes into meaningful community projects.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. intuition [ˌɪntjuˈɪʃn] - (noun) - The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. - Synonyms: (insight, instinct, perception)

And intuition is very important and either you have it or you don't have it.

2. generational [ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃənl] - (adjective) - Related to successive stages of descendants within a family. - Synonyms: (ancestral, familial, hereditary)

Cooperman is now a billionaire, but he didn't come from generational wealth.

3. unorthodox [ʌnˈɔːrθədɒks] - (adjective) - Contrary to what is usual, traditional, or accepted. - Synonyms: (unconventional, unusual, atypical)

Cooperman's educational path was a bit unorthodox.

4. philanthropy [fɪˈlænθrəpi] - (noun) - The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed by the donation of money to good causes. - Synonyms: (charity, benevolence, generosity)

I appreciate Lee Cooperman so much, because he believes, as we believe, that philanthropy can change the world.

5. rebirth [ˈriːbɜːrθ] - (noun) - The process of renewing or revitalizing something. - Synonyms: (renewal, revival, rejuvenation)

Being a catalyst for economic rebirth of our home city is been in our mission since the beginning of our creation.

6. catalyst [ˈkætəlɪst] - (noun) - A person or thing that precipitates an event or change. - Synonyms: (stimulus, spark, trigger)

Being a catalyst for economic rebirth of our home city is been in our mission since the beginning of our creation.

7. embodiment [ɪmˈbɒdɪmənt] - (noun) - A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. - Synonyms: (personification, epitome, representation)

I probably am an embodiment of the American dream.

8. redevelopment [ˌriːˈdɛvələpmənt] - (noun) - The process of developing something again or differently. - Synonyms: (renovation, reconstruction, renewal)

Everything we're building is being built on parking lots. We are a city that is blessed or cursed with a lot of parking lots. So there is a lot of opportunity for new construction to occur without displacement.

9. engagement [ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt] - (noun) - The action of engaging or being engaged; involvement. - Synonyms: (participation, involvement, commitment)

We spend about $7 million a year on education programs, community engagement programs and arts and well being initiatives.

10. achievement [əˈtʃiːvmənt] - (noun) - Something accomplished, especially by superior ability or special effort. - Synonyms: (accomplishment, success, attainment)

I was awarded the Wall Street Journal Student achievement Award

Inside This Billionaire's Efforts To Revitalize New Jersey's Largest City

People ask me what I attribute my success to. I say luck, hard work and intuition. And intuition is very important and either you have it or you don't have it. 81 year old Leon Cooverman has spent his entire career picking stocks and the payoff has been huge. My friends call me Lee and you can call me Lee. I spent my first 25 years in businesses with Goldman Sachs, 14 of which I was a general partner. And then I retired from the firm in 1991 to start Omega Advisors, which was a well regarded hedge fund that I ran until 2018.

Cooperman is now a billionaire, but he didn't come from generational wealth. Growing up, he sold tires and worked as an usher at the Lowe's Paradise Theater in the Bronx for 55 cents an hour. I probably am an embodiment of the American dream. My father came to America from Warsaw, Poland at the age of 12 as a plumber's apprentice. He had no education. My father was a very hard worker, very disciplined, and I learned the work, I think, from him.

I grew up in the Bronx in a tenement. If you want to know where I grew up, go get the movie Fort Apache. The Bronx, starring Paul Newman. In the opening scene is two kids throw a third kid off a six story roof of a building to his death. That's exactly where I grew up. I went to PS 75 in the South Bronx, I went to Morris High School in the Southeast Bronx, and I went to Hunter College, now called Lehman College in the West Bronx.

Cooperman's educational path was a bit unorthodox. My major was chemistry, my minor was math and physics, and I finished off my major and I enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry in August of 1963. And after eight days, and I started to wonder if I was pushing myself in a direction I was fully committed. My dad may rest in peace. He was walking around telling everybody, my son, the dentist. All my friends knew I was off to school in dental school.

And I went to the dean of dental school and I said, look, I'd like to go back to undergraduate school, finish off my fourth year unaccompanied by any commitments and make a decision in fullness of time. I feel I should be more committed before I pursue this course of dentistry for four years. I went back, had all electives available, and in my senior year I took 10 courses in economics, got 10. As I never looked back, I found it interested in me. I tell the kids today, the only way to be successful is do what you love and love what you do, and I've made a lot of money doing what I love, so it's not work.

He went on to get his MBA from Columbia Business School where he graduated in 1967. I had no money in the bank. I had a student loan to repay. I had a six month old child and went to work the very next day. So I had no vacation. I had a lot of job offers. In part I was a good student. I have straight A's in finance. I was awarded the Wall Street Journal Student achievement Award.

My professors thought very well of me, they knew what I wanted. So it was a very serious package. Cooperman was made a job offer by Robert Danforth, a partner at Goldman Sachs. I said, Bob, let me be honest with you. I'm dead broke, I have no money in the bank, I have a six month kid to support. But I liked everybody I've met at Goldman. But I have four job offers for more money and the offer was for $12,500 a year.

And I said, do you think I can make $25,000 a year in five years? And he responded if you work hard and keep your nose clean, I think you can do it. He said, okay, I'll take the job. Through this position, Cooperman became a Wall street legend. Buy low and sell high, you know, value investing, that's my approach. I don't know, I don't consider myself a legend.

You know, when I worked at Goldman, I got up at 5:30 in the morning. I slept into New York City in the Erie Lacquer Railroad. I work very hard, I travel 90 days a year around the world. And I guess if you live long enough, you become a legend. When I joined Goldman, I think they were earning $5 million a year. And when they made a partner, I know in 1976 they earned $40 million. The year I retired, they made 1.8 billion.

I was there for the whole run. So the intuition of going with people I liked rather than just for the money. When I left Goldman, I was worth about $100 million. I don't feel guilty about the wealth I've accumulated. I've accumulated honestly and through hard work. And I figured out there's only four things you could do with money.

The first thing you can do with money is spend it on yourself. But we're not a sports enthusiast, we're not an art collector. And my income exceeded what I needed. Second thing you can do with money is give all your money to kids. But if you have a lot of money giving you money all Your money to kids is a mistake because you deprive them of self achievement.

Third thing you can do with money, give it to the government. But only a schnook gives the government money. You don't have to. You pay your taxes, you don't volunteer to pay more. The fourth thing you do with money is you recycle back into society and try to make the world a better place.

And that's what I've chosen to do with my money. It's the arts and education and health care and inner city kids takes up most of my charitable giving. There's no shortage of worthy causes. You know, I find that the only thing that's short supply is money. Cooperman, who moved to New Jersey in 1968, has already given away several hundred million dollars to various recip.

These gifts range from $100 million to Livingston, New Jersey's St. Barnabas Hospital, subsequently renamed the Cooperman Barnabas Hospital, to $50 million given to create the Cooperman College Scholars Program, which has sent over 1,000 young people from New Jersey's Essex county to attend universities across the country. His latest gift is a $20 million donation to the New Jersey Performing Arts center in Newark, also known as the NJ Pacific, to build the Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center.

The New Jersey Performing Arts center is the country's most diverse performing arts center in terms of its audiences, its staff and its programming. Located in Newark, New Jersey, a diverse city in an extraordinarily diverse state. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to serve so many different communities with concert events, with conversations, with education programs, with community activities.

And we are in service to a variety of communities, not only in Newark but throughout the state. I first met Lee Cooperman about a dozen years ago when I was early in the game as the CEO of this place. And education was the thing that changed the world for him. And he made a decision when he became wealthy to give back. His humility around his giving is a thing that I find so appealing and so attractive and so endearing. He doesn't make a big deal about it, he just does it.

We spend about $7 million a year on education programs, community engagement programs and arts and well being initiatives. The financial return on those is almost non existent. Do we depend on donors? Absolutely. So we can't survive without philanthropy. We wouldn't be able to be in service to community the way we are. And that's one of the reasons that I appreciate Lee Cooperman so much, because he believes, as we believe, that philanthropy can change the world.

After six years of planning, NJ Pack received an award of nearly $200 million in economic development authority tax credits and a capital campaign that raised nearly a quarter billion dollars. And that capital campaign helped us fund the education center that we'll be building that Lee gave the initial gift to and enabled us to build our endowment.

Though Cooperman had been a longtime patron and donor, to secure his $20 million donation in 2018, NJ PAC's President and CEO traveled to Florida to meet with him. I pitched him the idea of this education center. He paid attention to that pitch for about 15 minutes and then said, let's go have lunch. And by the end of the lunch he said, I think this is something that we'll do.

I'll let you know. And I went home and on Monday he called me and said, we're going to give you $20 million for this project. It was not a long process as what I've learned about Lee is he's a quick decider. Well, they're very committed and they're very engaged and I want to support winners and I think he has a good dream and he's very committed to what he's doing and I want to support him.

In all. The Cooperman center will cost $70 million to build and will be completed and opened in 2027. So why is this transformation so important for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center? Being a catalyst for economic rebirth of our home city is been in our mission since the beginning of our creation. In fact, this is a continuation of our campus plan.

So it's going to be this whole area, right? That whole area will be the residential development with the street level retail. Then across the street will be the Cooperman center with two vistas coming out of the front of the building. One focused right here at the reimagined plaza and the other window focused right down this street that we're creating between the high rise and the mid rise. Everything we're building is being built on parking lots.

We are a city that is blessed or cursed with a lot of parking lots. So there is a lot of opportunity for new construction to occur without displacement. We are an under resourced city here in Newark and the types of initiatives that we're going to be able to deliver to the community for free we hope will be life enhancing and sometimes life changing.

We reach 100,000 kids and families every year. With the existing education and community and arts and health programs that we're doing. Those numbers will exponentially get bigger once the Koopman center opens. My whole career in Wall street was trying to find and pick stocks. So in the philanthropy, I'm trying to pick people who don't have financial resources, but can use the financial resources to execute their dream.

Cooperman hopes that the generations to come after him will follow in his philanthropic footsteps, be a capitalist with a heart. The best economic system is capitalism. Very few people are looking to get out of this country, but many people looking to get into the country, which is a function of our economic system.

And what's going to happen to his money when he's no longer around to spend it? The proud father is leaving that up to his children and grandchildren to decide. My legacy to my kids is where I don't give away in my lifetime. It all goes into a foundation, and they'll give it away. And give them the ability to give away 50, 60, $70 million a year is a very nice gift.

And if they find working as one foundation cumbersome, Even my code for not getting along because they have different interests that they can go their separate way and much to my pleasure. They basically say there's no reason to even think that way. We want to work together.

Entrepreneurship, Finance, Philanthropy, Inspiration, Leadership, New Jersey, Forbes