People

Steve Schwarzman

Steve Schwarzman

Formal First Name
Stephen (Steve)
Link
Dates
2/14/1947 - present

Stephen Schwarzman is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of The Blackstone Group, one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world. He is recognized as one of the most powerful people on Wall Street, with a broad range of interests in private equity, debt financing, hedge fund management, and real estate acquisitions. Schwarzman is also an active philanthropist who has dedicated himself to tackling critical problems with transformative solutions.

Professional Experience


Academic History

EARLY CAREER

  • Schwarzman started his first business by establishing a lawn-mowing operation at age 14. He employed his younger twin brothers to mow while he brought in the clients.
  • He formally started his financial career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he discovered a passion for corporate finance. There, he learned about the stock market, the money management business, and how to analyze financial statements. 
  • Strained with analyzing a potential investment without having all the important information about it at hand, he decided to advance his studies at the Harvard Business School.
  • After earning his Harvard MBA, he took on a job at Lehman Brothers. He eventually became the Managing Director of Global Mergers and Acquisitions at age 31. 
  • He left Lehman Brothers in 1984 following its acquisition by American Express Company. 
  • One year later, Schwarzman and his former boss Peter Peterson formed The Blackstone Group in 1985 with $400,000 of their own money.
  • While Peterson retired shortly after Blackstone's 2007 IPO, Schwarzman still presides over the business as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.


HIGHLIGHTS 

  • As the Former Chairman of President Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum, Schwarzman was charged with providing direct input to the President of the United States from business leaders through a non-partisan, non-bureaucratic exchange of ideas.
  • He was once labeled the undisputed king of the private equity industry by Forbes magazine.
  • With a 2021 net worth of 41.5 billion USD, he is one of the wealthiest people in the United States and the 79th richest person in the world.


CURRENT APPOINTMENTS

  • Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of The Blackstone Group
  • Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
  • Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Schwarzman Scholars
  • Member of the Council on Foreign Relations
  • Member of The Business Council
  • Member of the Business Roundtable
  • Member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Beijing
  • Board Member of The Asia Society and New York-Presbyterian Hospital
  • Trustee of The Frick Collection in New York City


PHILANTHROPY
  • Schwarzman is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting education, culture, and the arts, among other things. 
  • In both business and philanthropy, he has dedicated himself to tackling big problems with transformative solutions. 
  • In 2020, he signed The Giving Pledge, committing to give the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes. 
  • In 2019, he donated £150 million to the University of Oxford, the largest single donation to Oxford since the renaissance.
  • In 2018, he announced a foundational $350 million gift to establish the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
  • In 2015, he donated $150 million to Yale University to establish the Schwarzman Center.
  • In 2015, he gave a founding gift of $40 million to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund.
  • In 2013, he founded Schwarzman Scholars, an international scholarship program at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
  • In 2007, he donated $100 million to the New York Public Library.


AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

  • In 2007, Schwarzman was included in TIME’s “100 Most Influential People.” 
  • In 2016, he topped Forbes Magazine’s list of the most influential people in finance.
  • In 2018, he was ranked in the Top 50 on Forbes’ “World’s Most Powerful People.” 
  • The Republic of France has awarded him both the Légion d'Honneur and the Ordre des Arts et des Letters at the Commandeur level. 
  • He is one of the only few Americans to receive both awards recognizing significant contributions to France. 
  • He was awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor for foreigners in Mexico.