His Foundation Could Rank Among America's Largest

Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman plans expansion of foundation
Posted Feb 14, 2026 5:00 PM CST
His Foundation Could Rank Among America's Largest
In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, file photo, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman attends the session 'Shaping a New Market Architecture' at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Stephen Schwarzman is moving to put his name in a different kind of top 10 list. The Blackstone co-founder, whose fortune Altrata pegs at about $43 billion, is retooling his Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation with the aim of turning it into one of the country's 10 largest private foundations, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A new executive director, Melissa Román Burch, started in January to help "organize and institutionalize" his giving, which has historically been more "ad hoc," per the paper. It notes he has committed about $1 billion in gifts to date, and reports the SASF will stick to themes he has favored: education, culture, medical research, and AI.

As for the company his foundation will find itself in, the Journal reports that as of 2023, America's 10 largest foundations (as determined by IRS filings) had assets of $8.8 billion to $77 billion. The bulk of the 78-year-old's wealth—largely his Blackstone stake—is expected to flow to the foundation after his death.

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