Somehow it escaped me that he was born into wealth. I had always assumed that when he mentioned the ovarian lottery that he was referring to where/when he was born and then all else fell into place. Weren’t his parents Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany?
Yep. While the start of the story is horrible, its a great American tale. His parents were forced out of Nazi Germany, came here, and basically started over. While it seems George Kaiser was born into a good family and was granted fantastic opportunities, it also seems he could have coasted along and lived a comfortable life. But he didn't. By all accounts he worked harder than anyone else and went on to world class wealth. Then decided to give it away.
From wikipedia:
Kaiser was born on July 29, 1942 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[1][2][6] He attended Central High School in Tulsa.[7] He earned a B.A. from Harvard College in 1964 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1966.[8] He briefly considered joining the U.S. Foreign Service, but instead returned to Tulsa in 1966 to work for his father. Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. was created in the 1940s by Kaiser's uncle and parents, Jewish[9][10] refugees from Nazi Germany who settled in Oklahoma.[11][12]
George's father, Herman had been a judge in Germany until 1935, when he was removed from his job by the Nazis because he was Jewish. He and his wife escaped to England in 1938, then emigrated to the United States. They settled in Tulsa, where Herman's aunt and uncle already lived. Herman joined the uncle's oil drilling business. Their son was born in Tulsa.
. . .
George Kaiser took control of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company in 1969, after his father had a heart attack. Kaiser-Francis was a little-known, privately owned oil prospecting and drilling company at the time. Under George's management, it became the 23rd largest nonpublic energy exploration company in the U.S. by 2010. In that year the company earned about $217 million, based on estimates by Bloomberg News.
. . .
Kaiser typically works 70 hours a week in his office, spending half his time on philanthropy and the rest on banking, energy and other business interests.
. . .
Kaiser is listed third on BusinessWeek's 2008 list of the top 50 American philanthropists, behind Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Kaiser
