Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Well, our next guest needs really no introduction. He's familiar to the Bloomberg audience. Leon Cooperman spent twenty five years at Goldman Sachs. He was a partner and chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He then went on to create the hedge Fund Omega Advisors in the Omega Family Office, where he now oversees more than ten billion dollars in assets.
He's also known for his philanthropy, signing on to the Giving Pledge more than a decade ago and having donated many millions to various causes, including Columbia Business School, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and most recently fifty million dollars to the New Jersey Performing Art Center. Something we want to talk with him about, and yes, a lot more with us is Leon Cooperman. He is charing CEO of the
Omega Family Office. He joins us along with John Schreiber, President CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, both joining us from Newark and gentlemen, great to have you here with us.
Thank you, nice to be with you. Let me correct once that you should I managed ten billion when I was in business. I retired in twenty eighteen. Unfortunately we have less than ten billion. We have with my own money and my son and my wife less than ten billion by the lot.
We appreciate that because we like to get it right here. So thank you, thank you for that, and thank you again both of you for joining us. We want to talk about this gift, but got to say leon Lee, that we would certainly get a lot of flack from our Blueberg users if we didn't ask you about the market environment as well. So we just want to take a few moments just to ask you about that. You know, we have seen records on Wall Street again this week
there are concerns about overvaluation. I'm just curious, do you feel comfortable with where the market is and do you expect it to continue to move up higher, especially when it comes to us docs.
I'm not comfortable. I think I'm less optimissing the consensus. I'm bothered by the excessive valuation road history with a ninety percentel evaluation, and certainly relative to the obvious macro wishes which the market for some reason is ignoring. I'm bothered by the excessive reliance on debt. We have the guns and economic policy which will ultimately to crowding out. And all these data centers are being announced since noone has to finance them. Two menu, it's demand for credit.
And think it's surprised of me when they cut short rates long rates to they move up stock market very expensive at the long rates. And can we become a problem for stock market?
When does it become a problem?
Yeah, you don't know. You know, I were for lower levels, but I've been too conservative. But I've not been sure anything. I'm showing stuff becoming more liquid, but I would say that you know, ben markers don't materialize. They have a macroconception that tends to be a causative factor that the city has to blow up in. Uh the uh you know these well, these announcements of these deals with the centers data centers, we have to be the voluntory session
race after works for port when they start the market. Clearly, I love Warren Buffett's coming, which I can allot if I can find it. Uh, I was none of the impression this was my hit, not but the market. But you know, Warren Buffett quite some time ago observed that where book market gets going. People basically ignore the interest rates and profits and they figured out that they're making money and they can't fail to be out of stock market. Yeah. We yeah. This was a speech he gave in nineteen
ninety nine. Once a bookmark gets under way, and once she reached the point where everybody had made mind no matter what system he or she has followed attracted to. Their game is respying that the interest rates and profits pacimplar to the fact it seems to be a mistaked to be out of stocks. In fact, these people superpose on on and I can't miss the party factor on
top of the fundamental issue that drive the market. Like Pavelov Dog, these investors and quotes learned that when the bill rings, in this case the one that opens the newk Stock exchange in nine thirty am. At nine thirty am, they get fed. This is daily reinforcement. They become convinced that there's a guard that he wants them to get rich. That's a great description what's going on now. People that were negative of a stock market return positive, and the
markets in ninety percent of evaluation versus history. We have a very unusual president is doing unusual things. Now he's trying his best, but it hairy a difficult hand. And I think this stuff with tariffs is a mistake, but you know, from uncomfortable.
Yeah, it's interesting. You talked about data centers too and the AI spend. I mean, we did have Jeff Bezos of of course Amazon saying that the spending on artificial intelligence resembles an industrial bubble that could lead to lost investment but will also make society better off. Can I just ask you real quickly AI? Is your family office using it?
Yet? We won't? People ask? Oh, then I was going too early.
I totally get it. We're talking with Leon Cooperman Lee Cooperman, chair and CEO of a mega family office, with us from New Jersey, John Schreiber, also with US president and CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and we do want to get to this gift that you have made lead to the New Jersey pack. We often talk with you about markets, but we also do take note of your philanthropy. Why this investment fifty million donation to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the largest individual gift
in the art Center's history. Why did you do that?
Well? I need to see yes, No, the background so simply stated, my wife and I have lived the American dream, and financial resources were largely being directed to help the n see kids achieve who we have been with virtue of their hard work, luck and a few two decisions during my earlier in my career. So in my case, my father came to America in nineteen twenty four, Warsap poet. He came at the age of twelve, so he was born in nineteen oh eight, and he had no full education.
And I went to public school in the Bronx High School in the Bronx College in the West Bronx. I with my grade school and my public school with the East Bronx. I followed advice the Hordes scriber, I went west. I moved to the West Bronx and then I had a short sight Columbia Business School, which over the door to Coldman Sachs in my career at Wall Street. So yeah, we want to give kids today the chance to achieve the same thing that my wife and I achieved. Simple
as that. And I figured only fourth things you can do with money, you know, And I'm more different than your boss, Michae Bloomberg said, I have a few less zeros.
These extremely fun.
For twenty five years. Yeah, we turned able to vote. It's forty years ago, and when he ran for president, I switched to a Democratic Party so I can vote, work for him and support him. Unfortunately, he kind of fland that very quickly. But I said, only four things you can do with money. First thing you can do money is you can pleasure yourself and buy planes, by automobile, by baseball teams. There's nothing wrong with that. My wife
and I have simple tastes. We both have assumed a view that this is more so give.
And you know, one of the things we want to do Lee is actually talk to John Schreiber about what this money means to him.
Yeah, John Schrieber, come on in here, presidency of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, talk about how transformative this gift is. What exactly you can do with the fifty million dollars.
It's a remarkable gift, and we know, of course, couldn't be more grateful to Lee and Toby for making it. It's an endowment gift. We spend a NJ peck about eight million dollars a year on what we call social impact work. That's work in arts, education, community engagement, the intersection of arts and health. Almost everything we do for community, and we are living in an under resource community of
Newark and Greater Newark is free to community. So we reach one hundred thousand kids and families every year and we are opening in about two years what is called the Coopman Center. Lee made an earlier gift of twenty million dollars that was a starter gift for an education and community center sixty thousand square feet on our campus that will be open six days a week. Every activity we do there, from mothers and babies to older adults, will be free to community, and we want to endow
that work. No matter what is happening in the economy or more broadly, from the government, we can predictably deliver these important kind of life changing services to community, and Lee and Toby made that possible with this gift.
John, we're Bloomberg. We talk about data. We like to measure things. I want to know from you. How you measure the impact of a gift such as this. What are the metrics you use to make sure that it is effective, to make sure that you're using the money in the most effective way possible.
Well, it's interesting, it's a combination of real data and what we hear and learn from community. So we did financial modeling that showed us what not only Lee's gift, but I hope to raise another fifty million dollars in the next couple of years so that this work is endowed with one hundred million dollars and that will enable us, based on our research, to deliver services every year in a predictable fashion. And then what we see with our kids and what we see with our families. You know,
sometimes this work can change a life. I know, it always enhances the lives of the people that we're engaged with.
You know, Lee, I think about I'm going to bring you back in here. I think about this political environment that we are in, and you know, with the government shutdown, money not going to different states for different projects. We know the importance of both public private sector and making cities more secure and creating economic activity and kind of
spreading the wealth, if you will, among citizens. And I wonder if there's a kind of a big broad observation for you, especially like as we talked about a little bit earlier, this kind of politically divided environment, any economic and market consequences of such well, I.
Think the needs are even greater. The government has reduced funding dramatically and the needs are growing. I caught on TV the other day the mayor of Los Angeles. It's something like this, fifty thousand homeless people in LA and looking to wealthy people to help cover the cost. And I said to myself, my God, stay of California as the highest state income tax in the country, and I can't afford to pay the bills. So I think the private sector has to step up, and the government has
to kind of reduce their cost of living. Not an easy thing to do. We've had inappropriate policies on both sides. I think, well, Trump is a take it to many people and he understands the need to do something, and I just need you'm doing it the wrong way.
John, I want to bring you back in here. As president and CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. You talked about the impact of this money. But you know I have done things that NJIT. We've done live broadcasts from there. We have seen Audible and Amazon and some of the different companies that have invested in that area. And we've seen kind of the starts and stops of certainly Newark as a whole, a city that has certainly got quite a storied history. Right, tell us what you
can about the economy of Newark right now. And again, you know, I think when we look at cities, we get a better picture of America as a whole.
Well, Newark is certainly an under resource. It's one of the poorest cities in the country. That said, Newark is on the rise. We have a really effective mayor. He's a practical progressive. I'm sure you've talked to him. His
name is Rosmaraka. And right now, thanks to this mayor and to Governor Murphy and to philanthropists like Lead, this art center is in the middle of a three hundred and fifty million dollars a real estate development project that includes two hundred and forty five units of residential the education Center, town homes, new streetscape, and this is all on the Njpack campus, right. And what we've observed in Newark is that if you build it, they will come.
So as a as a community on the rise, as a residential community with a bright future, Newark has got that crime is down. We're dealing with homelessness and food insecurity in very intentional ways, and it's a very collaborative community.
So as an anchor cultural institution, which NJPECK defines itself as, we feel like we're in really good company with Prudential, with horizonbal Cross, Blue Shield, with Audible, with Panasonic, with lots of corporate anchors who are including Barnaba's Health, who are invested in the economic future of the city, but also the bright lives of the folks who live here.
Well, I want to end with you and send one last question your way about the way you're thinking about your own future impact. As I mentioned, you've spent a lot supporting causes including Columbia Business School, Saint Barnabas Health, other health care facilities as well of course the performing arts, not just with this most recent gift, but with other gifts as well. Where else are you thinking of supporting?
Well, I have a long list of things I support. One of the things that I like the most other than New Jersey and form Blast Center, is I create something called Coopman College scholars And so basically, if you live in a county, New Jersey and you take a three week free course at offered to explain what expect me. You're in college and you're academically qualified. I'm big on giving people equal opportunity for and that equal outcomes. That will give you a four year college education for free.
And so you know now you asked for measurements, So I did. I gave that program twenty five million dollars seven years ago. And I told them I knew the statistics. Thirty five percent of new caucul case thirty five percent new causitl case went to college, only five percent graduated. I told her, I worked to office money for five percent graduation rate. You have show me a change. Well,
our first court graduated a year ago. We had thirty five percent graduation rate, which is compared to the nationwide. I gave another twenty five million this morning. I asked them what I have to do to endow the program to you know, in perpetuity. You know, So I'm thinking now at my age of doing bequests organizations support for Columbia. I spoiled Hunter College. I suppoiled New Jersey before we got I support barnabus. Now where their initiation. A guy
I have the enormous regard for is kenln going. It's when I gave the barnabus. He astually they can change the name of the hospital to come in barbas See. Why do you want to do that? He said, Well, Canland going to the lot for y U? And I don't have his money do? I have an enormous respect for Kenny's a very special guy. So you know, uh, there's a good courses is a shurage of money.
Well, we certainly appreciate getting some time with both of you, and the best to both of you. Lee Cooperman, thank you, Chaar and CEO of the Omega Family Office, and of course John Schreiver Presidency of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, both joining us from New Jersey.