Beyond the businessman: Who is Tom Golisano?

As we close out the year we’re looking back on the absolute biggest headline for local non-profits. Tom Golisano invited them to a secret event and gave away $85 million.

Beyond that and the buildings that bear his name, who is Golisano?

Golisano Children’s Hospital, Golisano Children’s Museum and the Golisano Field House: Those places alone let you know the 83-year-old is passionate about kids and doesn’t mind spending his millions on them.

But what else?

How about salt of the earth genuine? You can hear it in the catch in his voice when he announced his dozens of big money donations, sealed with a joke.

“The only wealth you get to keep is that which you give away,” said Golisano at a press conference. “And since I applied for immortality and was denied, I’m here today to give some away.”

Golisano happily sat down with WINK News anchor Amanda Hall after the event.

“I feel a little lighter but pretty good,” said Golisano when asked how he felt giving away so much money.

“When I look at the total picture of my financial situation, it’s giving away that kind of money is not that big of a deal for me,” said Golisano. “I hate to sound like a jerk, but it was easy. It was easy.”

According to Forbes, Golisano is worth $6.5 billion. To date, he’s given away at least $860 million.

“None of the philanthropy that I’d been involved in would never have happened, except for one thing, and that was a company called Paychex,” said Golisano.

Golisano founded the payroll company giant in his hometown of Rochester, New York. He moved to Naples in 2009.

Ever the businessman, Golisano’s penned a couple of books in recent years, sharing his secrets for turning $3,000 into $44 billion.

He explained he had plans to give generously to charity in his will but then thought “Why wait?”

“Quite frankly, I think these organizations, I would rather give them money, financial help direct than I would through the federal government and the estate tax, which is pretty severe in this country,” said Golisano. “So to get it to them early and get it to them without affecting me that much financially, sure, is a good deal.”

As for the causes he’s chosen, each one is deeply personal.

In his conversation with WINK, He elaborated on why it’s vital that he help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“I have a son that is developmentally disabled, yes, lives in Rochester, works in a shelter workshop. He’s 59 years old now,” said Golisano. “I think the first thing is within the case of my son Steven, I didn’t want him to become a ward of the state.”

Health scares in his family this year have also motivated his generosity.

“Within six weeks, I had a great-granddaughter who had a heart transplant, very successful, I have a 96-year-old sister who just had a hip replacement, and the doctors all said, ‘no, you’re not gonna, we’re not gonna do it. We’re not gonna do it,'” said Golisano. “She insisted, and she’s running around now, and myself. A few weeks ago, I was sitting outside on a sunny day in Rochester, and all of a sudden they told me, I passed out. The EMT guys came put a couple of plugs on my chest, said, ‘Mr. Golisano, by the end of today, you’re going to have a pacemaker’, and I did, and it’s worked out good so far.”

Golisano’s love for animals is a shared love with his match, tennis Grand Slam champion Monica Selles.

“Thanks to my spouse’s passion and dedication to animals,” said Golisano. “We’ve had two wheaten terriers that were named Bailey in the past. The last one just passed away a couple months ago. I’m sure a lot of you know how we feel when something like that happens, because it’s just they become part of your family.”

Golisano stays relatable despite the overwhelming wealth that separates him from 99% of us.

Tom Golisano is a gift to our community.