Leon and Toby Cooperman believe it is their moral imperative to give others the opportunity to pursue the American Dream by sharing their financial success.
Leon is the son of a plumber who practiced his trade in the South Bronx. He is first generation American born in his family as well as the first to get a college degree. Leon’s education is largely public school based—public grade school, high school and college all in the Bronx. He had a short stint at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business where he earned an MBA and this opened the door for him to Goldman Sachs. He joined the Firm the day after graduation as he had a National Defense Education Act Student Loan to repay, no money in the bank, and a six month old child to support.
At the end of 1991, following 25 years of service, Leon retired from his positions as a General Partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs Asset Management to organize and launch an investment-management business, Omega Advisors, Inc., which he ran for 27 years before converting it to a family office at the end of 2018. At its height, Omega Advisors managed more than $10 billion of client funds.
Cooperman’s honors include recipient of Roger Williams University’s Honorary Doctor of Finance and of Hunter College’s Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters; an inductee into Hunter College’s Hall of Fame; and a recipient of the 2003 American Jewish Committee (AJC) Wall Street Human Relations Award, the 2006 Seton Hall Humanitarian of the Year Award, the 2009 Boys & Girls Clubs of Newark Award for Caring, and the 2009 UJA-Federation of New York’s Wall Street and Financial Services Division Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, Leon was inducted into Alpha Magazine’s Hedge Fund Hall of Fame and was honored by the AJC at their 50th anniversary with the Herbert H. Lehman Award for his professional achievements, philanthropic efforts, and longstanding support for AJC. In 2014, Columbia Business School awarded Leon its Distinguished Leadership in Business Award, and Bloomberg Markets named him to its fourth annual “50 Most Influential” list. He was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association in April 2015.
Toby Cooperman has held a lifelong interest in people with special needs, and has dedicated herself as a professional and as a volunteer to advocate on their behalf. For more than twenty years, Toby was a learning disabilities specialist at the Early Childhood Learning Center, a school for special education students in Chatham, NJ. She retired in June of 2013. Toby worked to establish a special needs department at the Leon and Toby Cooperman Jewish Community Center of MetroWest New Jersey. She has also served on the boards of JESPY House and Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled. She currently serves on the Board of JFS and the Federation Board of UJA of South Palm Beach County.
Leon and Toby, have two sons, Wayne and Michael, and three grandchildren.