Goldring Family Foundation

The foundation's wealth is tied to the Sazerac Company, the privately held spirits producer and distributor that owns over 450 brands including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, and Sazerac Rye. The company was built by Stephen Goldring, who arrived in New Orleans in the early 20th century, and later scaled under his grandson William Goldring, who currently chairs both the company and the foundation. Unlike most foundations that manage a diversified portfolio, the Goldring Family Foundation's assets are closely linked to the ongoing cash flows and real estate holdings of the Sazerac enterprise.

The foundation does not employ a separate professional investment staff. William Goldring, as chairman, and the family trustees — including his son Jeffrey and Gary Goldring — oversee the foundation's assets directly. This creates a governance structure where investment decisions are inseparable from the family's stewardship of the Sazerac Company, since the foundation's wealth is not a liquid, diversified endowment but rather a claim on the operating company's resources and related real estate.

Functionally, it blurs the line: it is organized as a traditional philanthropic foundation, but it operates with the governance patterns of a single family office because its assets are tightly interwoven with the Sazerac Company and family real estate. There is no separate family office entity that deploys capital into venture or alternative investments; the foundation is the primary institutional vehicle for the family's outward-facing activities.

Two institutions bear the Goldring name prominently: Tulane University and the National WWII Museum. William Goldring serves on Tulane's Board of Trustees and has funded the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine and the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex. The family also anchored the National WWII Museum's expansion into a major American museum, with William Goldring chairing its board and leading capital campaigns that transformed it from a regional attraction into a national institution.

The foundation does not publicly disclose a co-investment program, but its real estate holdings — including the Sazerac House on Magazine Street, the Buffalo Trace Distillery, and a commercial office in Palm Beach — are functionally part of a unified family balance sheet rather than arms-length investment positions. The distinction between foundation assets, corporate assets, and family assets is not rigid, which is characteristic of closely held, founder-controlled foundations backed by a single operating company.

The Woldenberg Foundation represents the parallel philanthropic arm of the Woldenberg family, whose patriarch Malcolm Woldenberg was Stephen Goldring's long-time business partner in building the Sazerac Company. The two families have historically collaborated on major New Orleans civic projects, and the Goldring/Woldenberg name appears jointly on several institutions, including the business complex at Tulane University, reflecting a philanthropic partnership that mirrors the commercial one.

The foundation's grantmaking appears to be largely proactive and relationship-driven, with funding concentrated in the greater New Orleans area, statewide, and nationally. It does not appear to operate an open application portal as a major institutional foundation would. Grants tend to flow toward established organizations with direct connections to the family's board memberships, including Tulane University, the National WWII Museum, and various Jewish community organizations.