Henry Goldman

Henry Goldman
Henry Goldman
Born	Template:Birth date; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 4, 1937 (aged 79); New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Financier, philanthropist, art collector
Years active	1884–1917
Known for	Goldman Sachs, philanthropy for German Jewish refugees
Spouse	Babette Kaufman Goldberg
Children	3 (Robert, Henry Jr., Florence Vogel)

Henry Goldman (September 21, 1857 – April 4, 1937) was an American financier, philanthropist, art enthusiast, and heir. As a prominent figure within the Goldman–Sachs family, he significantly influenced the development of the financial institution Goldman Sachs during the early 1900s.

Early life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 21, 1857, Henry Goldman was the son of Marcus Goldman, a banker originally from Germany.

He enrolled at Harvard University but did not complete his studies, reportedly due to vision problems. Additionally, some accounts indicate that his background as a second-generation German-Jewish immigrant may have contributed to feelings of exclusion at Harvard.

Career

Goldman commenced his professional journey with Goldman Sachs in 1884.

He was instrumental in bringing retail enterprises such as Sears and Woolworth to public markets despite their modest financial standing. In 1911, when the firm collaborated with Lehman Brothers to refinance and incorporate the automobile manufacturer Studebaker, Goldman actively participated on the company's executive committee.

During World War I, Goldman parted ways with both his brother-in-law and business partner Samuel Sachs as well as the bank. In 1915, amid rising tensions in Europe, he openly expressed support for the German side and refused to involve Goldman Sachs in a $150 million Anglo-French bond issue orchestrated by J. P. Morgan. His associates favored the Allied powers. Following America's entry into the conflict in 1917, Goldman resigned from the firm due to this fundamental ideological rift.

He officially retired from Goldman Sachs in 1917.

Beyond his banking career, he held board positions at the Lawyers Title and Trust Company, Columbia Trust Company, the Commercial Investment Trust Corporation, and Berlin's Shrebreuger Technishe Hochschule.

Philanthropy

Goldman maintained support for Germany until 1933 when a visit to Berlin exposed him to intensifying state-sponsored anti-Semitism. After this experience, he never returned and devoted his later years to assisting German Jewish scholars and child refugees escaping Nazi persecution in relocating to the United States.

His philanthropic contributions included funding the Stern–Gerlach experiment in quantum physics and purchasing a yacht for physicist Albert Einstein, which was later seized by Nazi authorities. He also acquired a Stradivarius violin for virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin.

Together with six other New Yorkers, Goldman endowed a $150,000 academic chair in German Art and Culture at Harvard University, his former institution.

Art collection

A distinguished collector of art, Goldman specialized in Renaissance Italian, Dutch and Flemish paintings. Among his acquisitions was Portrait of a Man Sitting by Frans Hals, which he purchased for US$175,000 in 1916.

Personal life

Goldman was married to Babette Kaufman Goldberg. The couple resided at 998 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, and had three children: two sons named Robert and Henry Jr., as well as a daughter named Florence Vogel.

Death

On April 4, 1937, Henry Goldman passed away in New York City at the age of 79. He was interred at Salem Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn.