Richard Rainwater: The Intellect That Just Went Away
Richard Rainwater became a billionaire through his business genius. He had an ability to seek out failing businesses with potential for turn around and then knew the right people to hire to make that potential a reality. He has always had energy, creativity and a lust for his business and his life, but sadly, now he is under 24-hour care and has trouble performing daily tasks such as walking or speaking.
PSP involves a buildup of a protein that is normally present in neuron infrastructure called tau. After his diagnosis, Rainwater’s family started a new research program to investigate a cure or a treatment and it was named the Tau Consortium. Rainwater has committed over $20 million dollars so far to fund this research and he is the one who has donated cells and will be the first patient of any experimental treatments. Researchers with the Consortium believe tau to be the cause of the disease, but that is still a subject of debate. Researchers have said: “’We believe tau is the holy grail of dementia,’” so the research being done for Rainwater could yield helpful information for the world.
Since Rainwater’s diagnosis, his estate lawyer has filed a petition to declare Rainwater incapacitated, and to have his youngest son Matthew declared his guardian. All probate matters of Rainwater have been ordered sealed, so it is not clear how many disputes are ongoing about his fortune. According to his wife, Deborah Moore, one of the largest conflicts is how the Rainwater Charitable Foundation will allocate its funds during the rest of Rainwater’s lifetime. His will gives separate portions of his estate for his wife, Moore, for his brother, and for his three children to distribute to charity as each chooses to.
Peter Elkind, Patricia Sellers, & Doris Burke, The Fight of Richard Rainwater’s Life, CNN Money, Nov. 7, 2011.
Special thanks to Peter Parlapiano (MBA/M.S. Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech University) for bringing this article to my attention.