Delivering Alpha

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Steve Schwarzman, co-founder and CEO of Blackstone Group LP at the 2015 WEF in Davos, Switzerland.
David A. Grogan | CNBC

Stephen A. Schwarzman is chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone. He has been involved in all phases of the firm's development since its founding in 1985. The firm is a leading global asset manager with $344 billion assets under management (as of March 31, 2016).

Schwarzman is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting education and schools. Whether in business or in philanthropy, he has always attempted to tackle big problems and find transformative solutions. In 2015, Schwarzman donated $150 million to Yale University to establish the Schwarzman Center, a first-of-its-kind campus center in Yale's historic "Commons" building. In 2013 he founded an international scholarship program, Schwarzman Scholars, at Tsinghua University in Beijing to educate future leaders about China. At $450 million, the program is modeled on the Rhodes Scholarship and is the single-largest philanthropic effort in China's history, coming largely from international donors. In 2007, Schwarzman donated $100 million to the New York Public Library on whose board he serves.

Schwarzman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Business Council, the Business Roundtable, and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. He is co-chair of the Partnership for New York City and serves on the boards of the Asia Society and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, as well as on the advisory board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is a trustee of the Frick Collection in New York City and chairman emeritus of the board of directors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2007 Schwarzman was included in TIME's "100 Most Influential People."

Schwarzman was awarded the Légion d'Honneur of France in 2007 and promoted to officier in 2010. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management and on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors.