One Successful American: Steve Schwarzman
If you have never heard of Stephen Schwarzman, you’ll find this intriguing. Forbes Magazine named him as the fifty-third most well-off person in the United States of America in 2008, still it is his incredible accomplishments in the business and finance sector in addition to his contributions to non profit organizations that make this story so interesting. Steve’s life illustrates that the keys to winning in business are devotion to working hard and, of course, indefatigable dedication. In the mid-eighties Stephen and his business partner set up their very first firm providing financial advice to the American investment community. The company has since developed apace and is now an industry giant in the m&a field.
Stephen grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He graduated from Abington Senior High School, his next step was to acquire his bachelor’s degree from the renowned Connecticut University, Yale in 1969. After that, he opted to further his education at the influential Harvard Business School, graduating in 1972. Next he became part of the team at Lehman Brothers. Steve was assigned the role of managing director at the age of thirty one.
Stephen A. Schwarzman supports a range of educational programs as well as consulting as an ancillary professor at the influential Yale School of Management. To name but another example of his engagement, he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. What is more, Stephen only last spring gave the New York Public Library $100,000,000 to sponsor their recent construction project. In fact, the library called one of their recently built buildings after him.
It is no surprise that Stephen Schwarzman is recognized as one of the United States’ elite: As one of Times Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People on the planet, Stephen is now in the center of media attention and impacting people on a multinational scale. His swift rise in the business and financial sectors is certainly spectacular, and no doubt his willingness to donate to his community has provided America with a new class-of-its-own standard to live by.
Considering his commitment and his generosity of spirit, it looks like there isn’t anything he cannot achieve. So, by way of a summary, Stephen is an individual who has taken each and every opportunity given to him, but he has also used his money and status to do his best to improve the lives of his countrymen.
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