Schwarzman's first business was a lawn-mowing operation when he was 14 years old,employing his younger twin brothers,Mark and Warren,to mow while Stephen brought in clients.[5]
When Blackstone went public in June 2007,it revealed in a securities filing that Schwarzman had earned about $398.3 million in fiscal 2006.[15][16] He ultimately received $684 million for the part of his Blackstone stake he sold in the IPO,keeping a stake then worth $9.1 billion.[17] In the following years,his compensations increased even more:he received $350 million in 2007[18] and $702.4 million in 2008[19] - partly due to stock awards. His salary was $734.2 million in 2015,$425 US million in 2016 and $786 US million in 2017.[20] In 2022,he was paid $253 million.[21]
In June 2007,Schwarzman described his view on financial markets with the statement:"I want war,not a series of skirmishes... I always think about what will kill off the other bidder."[22]
In August 2010,Schwarzman compared the Obama administration's plan to raise the tax rate on carried interest to a war and Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939,stating,"It's a war. It's like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939."[26][27] Schwarzman later apologized for the analogy.[28][29] In 2012,Obama called Schwarzman and requested his assistance in brokering a budget agreement with Republicans in congress to avoid a fiscal cliff.[30] Eventually a deal was brokered with Schwarzman's help. The new tax plan added $1 trillion of additional revenue by raising taxes,closing tax loopholes,and ending deductions. Obama later drafted a formal message of support for Schwarzman Scholars,an education initiative undertaken by Schwarzman.[31]
He endorsed and fundraised for Mitt Romney in 2012.[32] During the 2016 Republican primary,he declined to support any one particular candidate. He identified as center-right and said the eventual GOP nominee should appeal to independent voters,not the right wing of the Republican Party. At the same time,he had positive things to say about Hillary Clinton.[32]
In early 2016,he said that in a two-candidate race he would prefer Donald Trump to Ted Cruz,saying that the nation needed a "cohesive,healing presidency,not one that's lurching either to the right or to the left."[33] He had previously made a donation to Marco Rubio in 2014.[32]
In late 2016,Schwarzman "helped put together" a team of corporate executives to advise Trump on jobs and the economy. The group,which includes JPMorgan ChaseCEOJamie Dimon,Walt Disney boss Bob Iger and former General Electric leader Jack Welch,became Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum.[34][35] In February,Schwarzman was named as chair of the 16-member President's Strategic and Policy Forum,which brought together "CEOs of America's biggest corporations,banks and investment firms" to consult with the president on "how to create jobs and improve growth for the U.S. economy."[36] On August 16,2017,following five members' resignations,President Trump announced via Twitter he was disbanding the forum.[37]
He is a long-time friend of former president Donald Trump and provides outside counsel,and served as chair of Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum.[1][38] In response to criticism for his involvement with the Trump administration,[39] Schwarzman penned a letter to current Schwarzman Scholars,arguing that "having influence and providing sound advice is a good thing,even if it attracts criticism or requires some sacrifice."[1]
In private Schwarzman called the January 6 United States Capitol attack an "insurrection" and "an affront to the democratic values we hold dear". However,he stopped short of criticizing Trump over the riot.[24]
In December 2018,non-profit consumer advocacy organisation Public Citizen published a report titled:"'Self-Funded' Trump Now Propped Up By Super PAC Megadonors." The report disclosed that Schwarzman donated $344,000 in support of Trump's re-election campaign. Following his election,Trump appointed Schwarzman as the chairman of the White House Strategic and Policy Forum.[40]
In 2020,Schwarzman donated $15 million to the Senate Leadership Fund,[41] a super-PAC tied to Mitch McConnell,[42] $3 million to Donald Trump's America First Action PAC,and a combined total for the election cycle of $33.5 million to Republican candidates. Several of the Republicans he funded voted against certifying the 2020 Presidential Election. [43]
In 2022,Schwarzman indicated that he would not support the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign,providing in a statement to Axios that it was "time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders."[44]
Wealth
Plaque at the New York Public Library central reference building honoring Schwarzman's contributions
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index,he had a net worth of $32 billion as of October 2022.[45] In 2014,Schwarzman was named as one of Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential people of the year.[46] In 2016,Schwarzman was again named as one of Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential people of the year.[47]
On April 21,2013,Schwarzman announced a $100 million personal gift to establish and endow a scholarship program in China,Schwarzman Scholars,modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship program.[52] Schwarzman simultaneously announced a fundraising campaign with a goal of $200 million. The Schwarzman Scholars program is housed at Tsinghua University.[53]:108 Since its inception,the program has maintained ties to the United Front Work Department as well as other organizations and personnel affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.[54][55][56] Schwarzman has also worked on developing a network of scholars who understand China.[53]:108
In spring 2015,Peter Salovey,the president of Yale University,announced that Schwarzman contributed $150 million to fund a campus center in the university's historic "Commons" dining facility.[57][58] Additionally,Schwarzman is also a member of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council.[59]
In early 2018,it was announced that Schwarzman gave $25 million to Abington High School,his alma mater. However,this donation was contingent on several conditions,including naming rights to the school. After the public learned about the deal,a new agreement was made and Schwarzman removed several of the conditions for his donation,including renaming the school.[61]
Schwarzman announced in February 2020 that he had signed The Giving Pledge,committing to give the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes.[65][66]
In December 2021,Schwarzman and his wife Christine gave $25 million to the Animal Medical Center of New York in New York City. The hospital was renamed The Stephen and Christine Schwarzman Animal Medical Center.
In 2011,The Wall Street Journal reported on the vast water consumption of wealthy Palm Beach residents during exceptional drought conditions.[75] Schwarzman was listed as a top-five water user,having consumed 7,409,688 gallons between June 2010 and May 2011. The average Palm Beach resident consumes 108,000 gallons per year.[76]
In 2019,Schwarzman wrote his first book titled,What It Takes:Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence,"which draws from his experiences in business,philanthropy and public service." His book became a New York Times Best Seller.[79] However,the title was included with a dagger next to it,used to indicate that retailers reported receiving bulk purchases.[80]
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is an American businessman,politician,philanthropist,and author. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P.,and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the mayor of New York City for three terms from 2002 to 2013 and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president of the United States. He has served as chair of the Defense Innovation Board,an independent advisory board that provides recommendations on artificial intelligence,software,data and digital modernization to the United States Department of Defense,since June 2022.
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Abington Senior High School is a four-year co-educational high school in Abington,Pennsylvania,United States. A part of the Abington School District,the school was a two-year high school known as Abington South Campus from September 1964 until June 1983. In September 1983,Abington South Campus again became a three-year high school and eventually changed its name back to Abington Senior High. The 2017-2018 enrollment was 1,808. The interim principal is Ms. Susan McCarthy. Abington students are leaders in PSSA scores in the state of Pennsylvania and have won technology-oriented awards from Dell and Microsoft. The school is noted for being involved in the landmark supreme court case decision:Abington School District v. Schempp.
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The MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is a college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),located in Cambridge,Massachusetts,United States. Announced in 2018 to address the growing applications of computing technology,the college is an Institute-wide academic unit that works alongside MIT's five Schools of Architecture and Planning,Engineering,Humanities,Arts,and Social Sciences,Science,and Management. The college emphasizes artificial intelligence research,interdisciplinary applications of computing,and social and ethical responsibilities of computing. It aims to be an interdisciplinary hub for work in artificial intelligence,computer science,data science,and related fields. Its creation was the first significant change to MIT's academic structure since the early 1950s.
↑ The Blackstone Group Inc. "Our People". www.blackstone.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
↑ The New York Times. "NYTimes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2022. Retrieved August 21, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Further reading
King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone.
Greed and Glory on Wall Street—The Fall of the House of Lehman by Ken Auletta, The Overlook Press, New York, ISBN1-58567-088-X
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