The story of Stephen A. Schwarzman is one of success and a strong work ethic. Recently Stephen ranked fifty-three on the list of the most well-to-do individuals in the country, but it isn’t money which makes this story fascinating but his undreamt of achievements in the financial industry and his patronage of the arts. His story is an inspiration to people from every walk of life and in addition it serves as a reminder that everyone can be financially successful with some hard work. In the mid-eighties Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter Peterson launched their initial firm extending financial advice. The company has since gone from strength to strength and is now an industry giant in M & A. Spending many of his early years in Pennsylvania, Stephen attended school in suburban Philadelphia. After graduating from high school he went on to study at the famed Yale University in Connecticut and obtained his degree in 1969. Harvard Business School was the very next step in his education, where he received his Master’s degree in Business Administration in 1972. Then he joined with Lehman Brothers investment bank, located in New York, New York. By the age of 31, he had already been appointed one of their managing directors.

Stephen A. Schwarzman served as an ancillary professor at the elevated Yale School of Management in addition to giving financial support to many charities, education, and the liberal arts. Furthermore, he is the 5th Chairman to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in New York, NY. Additionally, Stephen recently gave the New York Public Library $100 million to support their recent building plans. In fact they called one of their new buildings the “Stephen A. Schwarzman Building”.

Stephen is now an inspiration to a new generation of business people: Times Magazine recently named Stephen Schwarzman as one of the one hundred most influential people on earth. His quick rise to power in the financial industry is nothing short of astounding, and without a doubt his willingness to give back to his community has set business leaders a new class-of-its-own benchmark to follow themselves.

It would seem that right now, Stephen has it all. To sum up, Stephen has had an important influence on both the business and financial communities and the world generally.