He led a bachelor’s life for the gossip pages and knew how to grow money. He was also a champion of school choice:

These convictions led him to co-found the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) — the country’s largest charity helping parents send their children to the school of their choice. In 1998, he teamed with the late John Walton and together they offered 40,000 K-12 scholarships — worth $200 million — to low-income families across America. Parents of more than 1.25 million students applied for the four-year scholarships.
As Mr. Forstmann said, “Every child, regardless of their parents’ income, should have access to a quality education – an education that will not only prepare them for successful private lives, but help them to build cohesive communities and a strong democracy. We believe if you give parents a choice, you will give their children a chance.”
Today, CSF is heralded not only for changing the lives of thousands of children, but also for spotlighting the huge demand for educational alternatives to the current system. Since its inception, CSF has gone on to help almost 123,000 low-income children nationwide with scholarships worth $483 million.