What is Herbert Sandler's Net Worth?
Herbert Sandler was an American lawyer, banker, and philanthropist who had a net worth of $800 million at the time of his death in 2019. Herbert died on June 5, 2019 at the age of 87. Herbert and his wife Marion transformed a tiny California bank, Golden West Financial, into one of the largest mortgage lenders in the US. They sold the company to Wachovia in 2006 for $24 billion. The Sandlers owned 10% of the company at the time of the sale, resulting in a $2.4 billion pre-tax windfall. They immediately donated $1.3 billion to their charitable foundation the Sandler Foundation. Part of their donation launched ProPublica, an investigative news organization. Unfortunately, after the 2008 housing crisis struck, many of Golden West's loans turned toxic. The losses mounted until Wachovia had to be rescued by Wells Fargo.
Sandler was born in 1931. He graduated high school at 15 then earned an undergraduate degree from the City College of New York in 1951. He then went on to Columbia Law School, where he graduated in 1954.
In 1963, Herbert Sandler, along with his wife Marion, founded Golden West Financial. They operated as CO-CEOs of Golden West Financial Corporation from 1963 to 2006. They acquired Golden West Savings and Loan Association which later became the World Savings Bank. For decades, Golden West Financial Corporation was a very successful company that focused on residential mortgage portfolio risk-averse to provide high quality loans. In over 40 years of operation, it had the lowest loan losses in the industry. The company was described as one of the most efficient money producing companies in the world and for ten years was included in Fortune magazine as one of United States most admired companies.
The Sandlers sold Golden Westto Wachovia Bank in 2006 for $24 billion. The Sandlers owned 10% percent of the company at the time of the sale, resulting in a $2.4 billion windfall. They gave $1.3 billion to the Sandler Foundation, which is philanthropic foundation that contributes to several scientific investigations. The foundation has sponsored advanced studies for the prevention of asthma since 2000. They also contribute to the development of methods to prevent ill loans and all forms of abusive financial contracts through the "Center for Responsible Lending".
