Stephen A. Schwarzman

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Stephen A. Schwarzman (born 14 February 1947) is the Chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group private-equity firm.

Schwarzman attended the Abington School District in suburban Philadelphia and graduated from Abington Senior High School. He then went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from Yale University—where, in 1969, he was elected to the Skull & Bones society—and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Schwarzman began his career in financial services at the investment bank Lehman Brothers, where he reached the rank of managing director at age 31. He eventually became the head of Lehman Brother's global mergers and acquisitions team. In 1985, Schwarzman and his partner Peter Peterson started Blackstone, which originally focused on private equity and leveraged buyout scenarios.

With an estimated current net worth of around $3.5 billion, Forbes ranks Schwarzman as the 73-richest person in America.^[1] He lives in an apartment at 740 Park Avenue in New York, previously owned by the Mayflower descendent George Brewster and John D. Rockefeller Jr. Schwarzman bought it from Saul Steinberg (business) in 2000 for just under $30 million.^[2]

On 13 February 2007 Schwarzman celebrated his 60th birthday at the Armory on Park Avenue. Guests included Colin Powell, Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, and Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York. The climax of the evening was a half hour live performance by Rod Stewart for which he was reportedly paid $1 million.