Stephen A. Schwarzman is the fifth Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group, a global investment and advisory firm headquartered in New York City, Mr. Schwarzman has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 1985 and approves all capital commitments by the firm.
Mr. Schwarzman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is an active supporter of cultural and arts organizations. He serves on the boards of the New York City Ballet, Film Society of Lincoln Center, The Frick Collection, New York Public Library, and the New York City Partnership.
He also serves on the board of the Harvard Business School Visiting Committee and the JP Morgan Chase National Advisory Board.
He began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he was elected Managing Director in 1978 at the age of 31. He was engaged principally in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions business from 1977 to 1984, and served as Chairman of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Committee in 1983 and 1984.
Mr. Schwarzman 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. He is married to Christine Hearst Schwarzman, an intellectual property attorney.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts