30 Little Known Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Stephen Schwarzman

Stephen A. Schwarzman, the Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group, chaired President Donald Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum for 6 months. Here are some interesting facts to know about the American businessman and philanthropist:

1. He is ranked at #42 in the Forbes list of World's Most Powerful People in the year 2018, while being ranked at #117 in the Billionaires 2018 list.
2. He is currently serving as the Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group, the world's largest alternative investment firm specializing in private equity, credit and hedge fund investment strategies.
3. He is the founder of the global private equity firm and established the company in 1985 with Peter George Peterson, the former CEO and Chairman of Lehman Brothers.
4. Stephen Allen Schwarzman was born on February 14, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Arline and Joseph Schwarzman.
5. His father Joseph Schwarzman had a former dry-goods store Schwarzman's in Philadelphia. He was a graduate of the Wharton School.
6. He attended Yale University and graduated in the year 1969. During his time there, he was a part of the Skull and Bones secret society with George W. Bush.
7. He briefly served in the U.S. Army Reserve, following his graduation from Yale University. He went on to study at the Harvard Business School, where he graduated in the year 1972.
8. Schwarzman started his career in financial services with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which is now a defunct investment bank.
9. Following his graduation from Harvard business School, he worked at Lehman Brothers investment bank, and had a step by step growth in his career.
10. He became the managing director of the company, at the age of 31, before becoming the head of global mergers and acquisitions.
11. In the year 1985, he along with his boss Peter Peterson, started The Blackstone Group that focused on mergers and acquisitions.
12. The Blackstone Group went public in June 2007, and Schwarzman received $684 million for the part of his stake that he sold in the IPO. During the securities filing, it was also revealed that in the year 2006, Schwarzman had earned around $398.3 million.
13. In President Obama's period, the administration's plan to raise the tax rate on carried interest was compared by Schwarzman in August 2010 to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939. He later apologized for his comment.
14. He was named as a member of the International Advisory Board of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in September 2011.
15. Blackstone Group joined Saudi Arabia in May 2017 in a $40 billion fund to invest in stateside infrastructure projects, which will lead to "$100 billion in total infrastructure investments on a leveraged basis."
16. One of the major investments of the Blackstone Group in the year 2009, were the SeaWorld Parks, which was also the focus of the 2013 film "Blackfish." During an interview he spoke about the events of February 24, 2010, and claimed that SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau should be blamed for her own death and that broke multiple safety rules. Later, the firm said in a written statement that Schwarzman "misspoke," and that he does not plan to go back on CNBC to correct the record on air.
17. He is a long-time friend of President Donald Trump and reportedly provides outside counsel. He served as a member of the President Donald Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum for around six months.
18. The said forum brings together the "CEOs of America's biggest corporations, banks and investment firms" and Schwarzman was named as the Chair. The members advised the President on job creation and economic growth of the country.
19. In the year 2012, he endorsed and fundraised for Mitt Romney. Two years later, he made a donation to Marco Rubio. He is also said to have raised $100,000 for George W. Bush.
20. Schwarzman was named as one among the "50 Most Influential People of the Year," by Bloomberg in the year 2014 as well as in 2016.
21. It was reported in early 2018 that Schwarzman that he would donate $25 million to Abington High School, his alma mater, but was contingent on various conditions like the naming rights to the school.
22. When the deal was noted by the public, Schwarzman removed several conditions including renaming the school and a new agreement was also made.
23. It was announced that he would contribute $150 million to fund a campus center in the Yale University's historic "Commons" dining facility, in Spring 2015.
24. He contributed $100 million toward the expansion of the New York Public Library in early 2008. He also serves as a trustee in the Library. The central reference building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue was renamed The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
25. He donated a new football stadium to Abington Senior High School — the Stephen A. Schwarzman Stadium, in the year 2004.
26. He was also listed as one among the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time Magazine in the year 2007.
27. He made a $350 million gift to MIT for the establishment of the Schwarzman College of Computing, towards the MIT's new $1 billion commitment, which will lead to a new college scheduled to open in September 2019.
28. He met his first wife Ellen Philips while studying at Harvard Business School. The duo married in the year 1971, and had two children, but later divorced in 1990. He married his second wife Christine Hearst, an intellectual property lawyer in the year 1995. The family lives in a duplex apartment at 740 Park Avenue.
29. From the year 2004 to 2010, he was chairman of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He was also an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management.
30. Schwarzman announced a $100 million personal gift to establish a scholarship program in China, under the name "Schwarzman Scholars," modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship program, on April 21, 2013.
31. Stephen Schwarzman Net Worth: $12.9 Billion