Transmission Wire

This is Stephen A. Schwarzman’s story. Forbes named Steve the fifty third richest person in the US last year, but it’s not simply money which makes this story fascinating but in addition his astounding success in the business and finance industry and his patronage of the arts. Steve’s life shows us that the greatest character traits in succeeding in business are devoted work and, of course, unflagging dedication. In the 1980’s he founded the Blackstone Group with his partner Peter Peterson; initially as a private-equity management and financial advice firm. Now, the Blackstone Group is an industry giant boasting holdings as widely spread as Universal Studios Parks and The Weather Channel, to name but two.

After calling Philadelphia home for much of his childhood and adolescence, Steve Schwarzman went to school in the Abington School District. When he graduated from high school he decided to study further at the well esteemed Yale University and obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1969. He then chose a master’s degree at the well-known Harvard Business school near Boston, MA. Then Steve commenced his career with Lehman Brothers investment bank, located in New York. Stephen was assigned the job title of managing director at the unusually young age of thirty-one. Steve doesn’t simply offer his time and money to a variety of charitable organizations, but additionally he has also served as a part-time professor at Yale. Furthermore, he is the most recently appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in New York, New York. Additionally, Steve recently presented to the New York Public Library a hundred million dollars to help fund their recent expansion program. Steve also serves on their board of trustees.

Steve is a role model for a new generation of would-be magnates: last year he was cited amongst Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People on the planet in acknowledgement of his world-wide influence in finance. His supremacy in the business world has certainly been nothing short of dramatic, and coupled with his willingness to support the community as illustrated by his liberal donations to the arts and education is an inspiration to those people who wish to emulate him. So the financial industry waits in anticipation to see what Steve will do next. Thus, in summary, we discover a person who has taken advantage of every last business opportunity offered to him, yet in return he has at the same time made exemplary use of his status as a means to better the lives of those around him.