Gottesman as “ one of the toughest and nicest friends I ever had . He was very decisive but also very appreciative of our friendship .” Goldberg remembers that “ the best thing Sandy ever did for me was to introduce me to my wife , Thelma … He was one of my best friends . I respected his judgment in all aspects … He was the salt of the earth .”

When he graduated from Harvard Business School , Gottesman joined Hallgarten & Co ., an old-line investment bank that was part of the circle of prominent Jewish firms known as “ Our Crowd .”

First Manhattan

By James Russell Kelly

David Sanford Gottesman , best known as Sandy , has been acclaimed for his success as an investor and philanthropist , but much less is known about him as a person . He was very private and kept a low public profile . In a rare interview with The New York Times , he famously said , “ The only time a whale gets harpooned is when he surfaces .”

Early Years

Sandy Gottesman was born April 26 , 1926 and grew up in New Rochelle , New York , a suburban community in Westchester County about 25 miles northeast of Manhattan . He attended New Rochelle public schools through high school . “ I was not a good student , more interested in making money ,” he recalled . He was very entrepreneurial , peddling Collier ’ s magazines and a variety of other items door to door , hiring neighborhood children to help .

David “ Sandy ” Gottesman , founder of First Manhattan .

When he finished high school in 1943 , World War II was raging . Prior to enlisting in the Army , he briefly studied engineering at Carnegie Tech to qualify for a good assignment . The Army sent him to Princeton University to further his studies . He was first deployed to Sabu Island in the South Pacific and was later sent to occupied Japan after the war ended in 1945 . After two and a half years of service , he was honorably discharged in 1946 and enrolled in Trinity College , where he completed three years of study in two years .

Harvard Business School : Class of 1950

Gottesman enrolled in Harvard Business School in 1948 , even before receiving his bachelor ’ s degree . He became lifelong friends with many classmates , including Rick Cunniff , co-founder of Ruane , Cunniff & Stires ; Ray Goldberg , who became a distinguished professor at Harvard Business School and created and directed the Agribusiness program ; and Roger Strong , an investment executive associated with American Express , Fourteen Research and Cannell & Co . Strong remembers

Meeting Warren Buffett

In a rare public interview for the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett , Gottesman recalled :

I started to hear about Warren . And Bill Ruane was in the class before me [ HBS 1949 ] and was a very good friend of Rick Cunniff , who was in my class [ HBS 1950 ] and a good friend of mine . So , we had lunch and it was probably in the early ’ 60s and Bill said to me , ‘ You know , you buy the same stocks as a friend of mine , Warren Buffett , who I met at Columbia . You gotta meet him .’ So , Bill arranged lunch with Warren and that was my first exposure . And then , coincidentally , a client of mine [ David Strassler ] who was working with Warren on the sale of Dempster , said to me , ‘ This guy is coming up , and he ’ s the brightest guy we ’ ve met , and let ’ s all play golf together .’ So I went up and I played golf in Westport with Warren . From then on it was a complete bromance .

In an interview for this article , Buffett added color to this story . He said he was driving up to play golf with Strassler and Gottesman when he stopped to refuel his car and wrenched his back . He thought about canceling the event but decided to keep going to honor his commitment . “ When I met Sandy , we hit it off instantly ,” he recalled .

And their relationship continued to grow over time . Gottesman stated in an interview for Becoming Warren Buffett that “ every Sunday night after I worked like hell during the week , I would call Warren with all my best ideas … Every idea I batted up to Warren . It was like getting the Good Housekeeping seal of approval , particularly

24 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2023 | www . MoAF . org