This Hedge Fund Star Is Way Into Fighting Cancer. Just Like His Old Boss

Before Larry Robbins went off to found Glenview Capital Management, which has been touted as the top performing hedge fund in recent years and manages around $7.5 billion in assets, he was a young promising Wharton graduate taken under the wing of Leon Cooperman, the financier and philanthropist.

Robbins rose through the ranks to become partner at Cooperman's Omega Advisors. When Robbins left, it's possible that more than Cooperman's financial wisdom rubbed off on him.

Consider that apart from Robbins' giving on education and poverty, the largest grants made since his young family foundation was established in 2008 have gone to health. To be specific, Robbins has a particular interest in fighting cancer. He's been a steady funder of The Ira Sohn Conference Foundation (around $50,000 annually), the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, American Cancer Society, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and Tomorrows Children's Fund.

We've written before about Cooperman's cancer philanthropy, through which he has given his largest sums of money to Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, where he serves as vice chair. Cooperman got involved there in a big way when a former business peer and friend (and then chair of Damon Runyon) brought Cooperman on to manage the foundation's endowment.

Robbins is not yet deeply associated with Damon Runyon, but he has given modest sums to them. It wouldn't be a stretch, though, to surmise that when young philanthropist Robbins was kicking around ideas and causes to invest in, he called up his old boss and mentor Cooperman.

It's tough to say where Robbins' health philanthropy goes from here. For one thing, his giving is not on the level of his education or poverty giving (where he's given over $2.2 million to KIPP and more than $10 million to Robin Hood).

What's more, Robbins is still in his formative years as far as giving, and mostly concerned with his business. However, he's already developed an interest in cancer research. As he ages, Robbins can only be expected to expand on what he's already done.

Click here to read our full profile of the Robbins Foundation's health philanthropy