Billionaire Investor Leon Cooperman Pledges $100M To Saint Barnabas Medical Center

Omega Advisors chairman and CEO Leon Cooperman announced Thursday that his family will be donating $100 million to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey.

Cooperman opposes increased taxation of the rich, but not because it will impact his own fortune. Cooperman plans to give all of his money away, he said Thursday on CNBC. 

"I figured out many years ago there's only four things you can do with money," Cooperman said. 

First, "you can pleasure yourself" by buying material things, he said. 

"Material possessions brings with it aggravation and less is more."

The second thing one can do is pass money on to one's children, Cooperman, 78, said: "Giving all of your money to your kids is a mistake because you deprive them of self-achievement." 

Next, one can give their money to the government, "but only a fool gives the government money they don't have to give them. You give the government the money you're obligated to give them through taxes," he said. 

Lastly, one can recycle money back into society and try to make the world a better place, Cooperman said. That's exactly what the billionaire investor is planning to do.

Saint Barnabas provides major services for the community. The medical center serves 400,000 patients per year.

Cooperman told CNBC that he, his wife and his two kids have all had surgeries done at the Saint Barnabas hospital. "We've obviously made it out alive," he smiled and said. 

"This is what capitalism is all about. You know, you work hard, you make a lot of money and you give it back to the system."

The Cooperman family's $100-million donation to Saint Barnabas Medical Center will be the largest donation ever to a hospital in New Jersey.