If you have not come across Stephen A. Schwarzman, you’ll find this interesting. Forbes named Steve the 53rd wealthiest individual in the country in 2008, nevertheless it is his exceptional accomplishments in the business and finance sector and also his contributions to education and the arts that make this tale fascinating. The Blackstone Group co-founder is a great role model and further proof that success can be achieved through hard work and being truly centered your career.

Steve Schwarzman and Peter Peterson established the private equity and financial advisory firm Blackstone Group in 1985. The group has since gone from strength to strength and today is an industry giant in mergers and acquisitions.

Living for most of childhood and adolescence in near Philadelphia, PA, Steve attended school in the Philadelphia suburbs. He went on to obtain his degree from Yale University in 1969. He opted to further his education at the highly respected Harvard Business School, getting his MBA in 1972. Then he joined at Lehman Brothers investment bank, located in Manhattan. Steve was appointed a managing director at the exceedingly young age of only 31. Not only does Steve offer his time and money to a wide range of non-profit organizations, but additionally he has also volunteered as a non-faculty professor at Yale. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in New York, NY. Additionally, Steve recently contributed to the New York Public Library $100,000,000 to back their recent expansion program. In fact the New York Public Library named their new extension after him.

As you’d expect Stephen A. Schwarzman is now one of the United States’ elite — Times Magazine last year listed Steve as one of the 100 most influential individuals on earth. His supremacy in the business and financial communities has been nothing short of amazing, not to mention the fact that his unstinting support of the arts and educational programs has doubtlessly inspired the business world generally.

As far as the people of the United States can see, Steve has it all. To summarize, Steve is a man who has taken every opportunity offered to him, yet he has at the same time employed his fortune and status to give his best to embetter the lives of those around him.