In a phone interview Thursday, Buffett said the deal was decisive for both of their careers.
Buffett said Gottesman, Buffett, and another partner, Charlie Munger, quickly decided they had made a “terrible mistake” with Hoxchild Cohn. Mr. Gottesman, long intimately known as Sandy, was responsible for reselling the company, albeit at a small loss.
“Sandy decided to sell it. I didn’t know who to sell it to,” Buffett said.
With the proceeds, Diversified bought more shares in Berkshire Hathaway, which prospered thereafter. The two companies later merged. Berkshire Hathaway is now a sprawling conglomerate with a market capitalization over his $590 billion.
“He saved me, Charlie, and himself to Diversified,” Buffett said of Gottesman. “He held that stock, which is now worth billions of dollars.”
Buffett fondly recalled years of travel and long conversations with Mr. Gottesman. “We would have been best friends if Sandy hadn’t done something for me financially,” he said.
David Sanford Gottesman was born on April 26, 1926 in Manhattan. When he was a child, his family moved to New Rochelle, New York. His father, Benjamin, was a banker and investor. His mother, Esther (Garfunkel) Gottesman, was a supporter of the Jewish and Zionist cause and helped arrange Israel’s acquisition of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
“I was interested in making money, not being an honor student,” Gottesman said. He went door to door for Collier’s magazines, hired neighborhood kids to help, and sold beetle traps at hardware stores.