Steve Schwarzman
Steve Schwarzman is the billionaire Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of The Blackstone Group, one of the world's largest alternative investment firms with over $1 trillion in assets under management. He has been involved in all phases of Blackstone’s development since its founding in 1985. Steve is recognized as one of the most powerful people on Wall street and a global leader in business and finance. In both business and education, he has dedicated his career to developing transformative solutions to some of the world’s great challenges. He is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting education, as well as culture and the arts, among other things. Steve is the author of What It Takes, a New York Times best seller, which draws on his experiences in business, philanthropy and public service.
Steve Schwarzman Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer
Academic History
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Master of Business Administration
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Bachelor of Arts
Under his leadership, The Blackstone Group has established leading investing businesses across asset classes.
The firm is involved in private equity, where it is a global leader in traditional buyout, growth equity, special situations and secondary investing; real estate, where it is currently the largest owner of commercial property in the world; multi-asset investing, where it is the world’s largest discretionary allocation to hedge funds; and credit, where it is a global leader and major provider of credit for companies of all sizes.
Blackstone also has major businesses dedicated to infrastructure and life sciences investing.
EARLY CAREER
Steve formally started his financial career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he discovered a passion for corporate finance.
At Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, he learned about the stock market, the money management business, and how to analyze financial statements.
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.
He was the former Chairman of the President's Strategic and Policy Forum under then President Donald Trump.
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Board Member, The Asia Society
Advisory Board, Tsinghua University in Beijing
Chairman Emeritus of the Board, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
RECOGNITION
2024 Honorary Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
2019 Barron's World's Best CEOs
2018 Forbes World's Most Powerful People
2007 TIME 100 Most Influential People
PHILANTHROPY
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 to help redefine the study of the humanities for the 21st century.
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 2013, he established "Schwarzman Scholars", the single largest philanthropic effort in China’s history coming largely from international donors.
He also donated $100 million to the New York Public Library on whose board he serves.
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
Steve has been featured or profiled in various leading media outlets and publications.
He has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Barron's, Bloomberg, Fox Business, Financial Times, Yahoo! Finance, CNN, and CNBC, among others.