Naples Connection: A Goldman Vet Has on Eye on Southwest Florida

Scott Kapnick, a former Goldman Sachs partner, spent 12 of his 21 years at the firm in Europe. Kapnick now helms HPS Investment Partners, a global investment firm. He and his wife Kathleen live in New York City, and a component of the family's philanthropy through the Kapnick Foundation Trust involves select organizations in the Northeast, Chicago and elsewhere.

The Kapnicks also have strong ties to Southwest Florida—the city of Naples, specifically. Kapnick's late parents lived in the region and Kapnick, Kathleen and their children would visit each spring for a month-long vacation. As Kathleen tells Naples Illustrated, "To our kids, Naples was America and our roots here go back to their babyhood."

Kapnick's late father, Harvey, a former chairman of accounting giant Arthur Andersen, was a prominent member of the community and played a key role in the creation of the Naples Botanical Garden. He found and purchased the land for the garden, driven in part by his own experience growing up on a farm in Michigan. When Kapnick's parents passed away in 2002, Kapnick and Kathleen acquired and rebuilt a home in the region.

And wouldn't you know it? The Kapnicks are also strong patrons of Naples Botanical Garden. Last decade alone, the couple gave $12 million to the garden, and continue to support the institution via their family foundation. The Florida garden is also home to the Harvey Kapnick Education and Research Center, a joint project with Florida Gulf Coast University that focuses on issues like environmental biology and plant research.

Lately, most of the foundation's grantees have been outside the Sunshine State, but the Kapnicks should be watched for greater giving in this region down the line. For our full overview of this funder, read our profile of Scott Kapnick linked below.

Related: Scott B. Kapnick