Born in the Russian Empire into a Jewish family,[3] Gusman immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 alone.
[4] Gusman began working at the age of 13 to save money for his ticket to the United States and never had a formal education.
[5] Gusman arrived in New York through Ellis Island and spent several years in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, working at a drugstore.
Within three years of arrival to the United States, he opened his own store but lost it in the financial crisis of 1907.
[7] He donated $2.5 mln to the University of Miami for the building of the concert hall that opened on January 31, 1975 at the Frost School of Music.