Bernard Schwartz

Honorary Advisory Board Member: Bernard Schwartz

15-CORNER-articleLarge.jpg

Bernard L. Schwartz is a visionary industrialist and a giant in the aerospace industry, as well as a private investor, a progressive public policy advocate, and a philanthropist. A renowned international dealmaker with a reputation for honesty and fairness, he is currently chairman and CEO of BLS Investments, LLC, a private investment firm he founded in 2006. 

Prior to establishing BLS Investments, Schwartz served for 34 years as chairman of the board and CEO of Loral Corporation and its successor, Loral Space & Communications, a satellite communications company formed in 1996. He is well known in the business world for his forthright style, his integrity, and his consistent advocacy for his workers, emphasising people over profits at his highly successful companies. Loral Corporation, a Fortune 200 defense electronics firm, employed as many as 38,000 employees at its 25 locations. At its height, Loral attained annual revenues of nearly $7.5 billion and had a market value of $13 billion.

In addition, from 1989 to 2005, Schwartz was chairman of the board of K&F Industries, a worldwide leader in the manufacture of wheels, brakes and brake control systems for the aviation industry. He also served as chairman and CEO of Globalstar Telecommunications Limited until 2001, a low-Earth orbit global mobile satellite telecommunications network launched under his leadership in 1991.

bs5.png

Deeply troubled by the growing economic disparity in America, Schwartz also manages the investments of the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation, which supports think tanks and economic policy advocacy organizations that focus on developing policies that promote U.S. economic growth and job creation initiatives. It also supports universities, medical research centers and New York City-based cultural organizations. Schwartz is a life-long Democrat and an active supporter of the Democratic Party.

Schwartz is often called upon to express his views or provide counsel on matters ranging from U.S. economic growth and competitiveness to job creation, investment in infrastructure, innovation, technology, and research and development. He has established programs at numerous organizations that examine current U.S. economic policy and competitiveness, and consistently challenge current orthodoxy to develop policy proposals that will further U.S. economic and technological success and create jobs. These organizations include: Third Way, The New School, Council on Foreign Relations, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Century Foundation, Roosevelt Institute, and the Center for American Progress. He is publisher of Democracy: a Journal of Ideas, a quarterly publication that spurs debate on economic and foreign policy issues.

A lifelong New Yorker, Mr. Schwartz also actively supports New York University Langone Medical Center, New-York Historical Society, Thirteen/WNET Educational Broadcasting Corporation, Baruch College and the New York Film Society. Schwartz serves as a trustee or board member of several of these organizations, most recently joining the Honorary Advisory Board of The Common Good.

Schwartz graduated from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science degree and holds an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the college. His book, JUST SAY YES: What I've Learned About Life, Luck, and the Pursuit of Opportunity, was published in 2014.

Honorary Advisory Board Member: Stanley Shuman

SS1.jpg

Stanley Shuman is a titan of venture capital and private equity who has been a leader in the investment industry for over 45 years. He has been associated with the high-level investment bank Allen & Company since 1961, as Executive Vice President, Managing Director, and now as Senior Advisor. He has also worked extensively in the media industry, serving as a Director of the multinational media powerhouse News Corporation for 23 years.

Shuman’s expertise is also highly sought after on matters of national and international policy. He was appointed by President Clinton to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, was the Chair of the National Law Project on Community Economic Development, and served on the Financial Control Board for the City of New York for nineteen years. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York. 

Shuman has led and continues to lead and serve on the boards of many New York institutions including Carnegie Hall; New York Law School; the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation; the Wiltwyck School residential treatment center for disadvantaged, emotionally disturbed children; and Channel 13/WNet. He is a long standing member of several corporate boards in addition to News Corp, including SESAC for 20 years and Palamon Capital Partners for 15 years.

Stan Shuman with fellow TCG Honorary Board Member Bernard Schwartz and Denise Schwartz at the Stage of Legends at Carnegie Hall.

Stan Shuman with fellow TCG Honorary Board Member Bernard Schwartz and Denise Schwartz at the Stage of Legends at Carnegie Hall.

Shuman as the StoryCorps honoree, 2013.

Shuman as the StoryCorps honoree, 2013.

He is Trustee Emeritus at Phillips Academy, Andover, the Vail Valley Foundation, and The National Public Radio Foundation.  He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Harvard Board of Overseers Committee on University Resources and as Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University.

Shuman with wife Sydney Roberts Gould, 2013

Shuman with wife Sydney Roberts Gould, 2013

Shuman is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Born in Boston, he remains a lifelong Red Sox fan.  He is married to Sydney Roberts Gould and has two sons, David and Michael; two stepsons, Gordon and Howard Gould, and six grandchildren.

He currently serves on The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board.

Selected Media: