Ralph Schlosstein is the current President and CEO of Evercore, the global independent investment banking advisory firm founded in 1995 by Roger Altman, David Offensend, and Austin Beutner. Prior to joining Evercore in 2009, Schlosstein had made his name as the founding partner and president of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Under his stewardship, Evercore has grown exponentially over the past decade, jumping from $292 million in advisory revenue in 2010 to a record $1.4 billion today. Find out more about the man at the center of its growth with these 10 things you didn’t know about Ralph Schlosstein.
1. He has a BA in Economics
Given his field, it’s probably not too surprising to learn that Schlosstein’s background is in economics. He earned his BA in the subject from Denison University, graduating cum laude in 1972. From there, he continued his studies with a MA in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
2. He grew up in very different circumstances
He may be sat on a comfortable fortune these days, but Schlosstein’s childhood was a vastly different proposition. His parents were born into wealthy families in Germany but were forced to flee the country when the second world war broke out. After arriving in the US, Schlosstein’s father found work as a bartender, while his mother worked as a nursery school teacher. But although the family lived in poverty, Schlosstein’s parents made sure to provide their kids with the means to escape it. “Education was paramount,” he’s since said to evercorewealthandtrust.com. “We went to museums and the symphony, and I was able to attend the best magnet schools in the city. The only thing that we didn’t have was money.”
3. He had four college scholarships
All the years his parents spent drilling the importance of education into their kids clearly paid off. After graduating high school, Schlosstein won a place studying economics at Denison University. But while he managed his studies effortlessly, paying for his tuition proved an uphill struggle. Although he was fortunate enough to win 4 scholarships, he still had to work to get by. During his undergraduate program, he spent 40 hours a week cleaning the school cafeteria. When he moved into graduate studies, he worked the graveyard shift as a security guard at the Allegheny County Community College.
4. He supports educational charities
Considering his own struggles to get an education, it’s not surprising that the educational welfare of today’s youth is now one of Schlosstein’s greatest concerns. To help support improvements in the nation’s public school system and widen access to higher education, he backs New Visions for Public Schools, a non-profit organization based in New York that works alongside the NYC Department of Education in providing tools, strategies, and support to the city’s 75+ high needs public schools.
5. He spent 20 years as the President of BlackRock
Prior to joining Evercore in 2009, Schlosstein had already made a name for himself as the founding partner of BlackRock. The firm was founded in 1988 by Larry Fink, Hugh Frater, Susan Wagner, Barbara Novick, Keith Anderson, Robert S. Kapito, Ben Golub, and Schlosstein. Initially conceived as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock has since developed into the world’s largest asset manager, operating from 70 offices across 30 countries and with clients in 100 countries. Schlosstein served for 20 years as the company’s President, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and Investment Committee.
6. He believes great partnerships are like great marriages
During his tenure as the President of BlackRock, Schlosstein worked closely alongside Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chairman and CEO. Given the length of their relationship (not to mention how fruitful it proved), it’s clear that Fink and Schlosstein ‘clicked’ – something that might be attributable to Schlosstein’s particular take on working relationships. “We had a great partnership and [Larry] does a phenomenal job,” he said during an interview with ft.com. “Great partnerships are like great marriages – you both have to work at it,” he added. “They’re fragile and you have to communicate. But if both of you start with the premise that the partnership has a lot of value, then you work through whatever bumps you have.”
7. He’s worked at Lehman Brothers
BlackRock wasn’t Schlosstein’s first ride at the rodeo. Prior to founding the firm in 1988, he spent several years as the Managing Director in Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers. While there, he was instrumental in launching the company’s interest rate swap business. Before joining Lehman’s, Schlosstein served as the Associate Director of The White House Domestic Policy Staff where he advised President Carter on the Chrysler loan guarantee program (among other policies), and as an economist for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
8. He believes in giving back
Schlosstein clearly believes that with great power comes great responsibility. Along with acting as a Trustee of the educational charity New Visions for Public Education, he also serves on the Executive Committee of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and as a Trustee of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In the past, he’s served as a Trustee of The Public Theater in New York City, a Trustee of Denison University, and a Trustee of the American Museum of Natural History.
9. He has a 15-year plan
The days of the 5-year plan are numbered. These days, it’s all about the 15-year plan, and Schlosstein, as you’d expect, has a very ambitious one in place for Evercore. Over the past decade, the company has already enjoyed huge growth, leaping from a few hundred million in revenue in 2010 to over a billion today. But as euromoney.com writes, seizing a place among the second rank of US and global M&A advisers hasn’t been enough for Schlosstein. If he keeps on track, he anticipates being up there with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch within the next 15 years. “(Evercore) is roughly at the midpoint of what I see as a 15-year journey that could soon take us to the number six ranked advisory firm in the world,” he says. “(We have) a legitimate shot at becoming top five in advisory revenues in the next couple of years.”
10. He made over $7 million in 2019
Schlosstein’s childhood may have been marred by poverty, but he’s come a long way since then. According to wallmine.com, Schlosstein is currently drawing an annual salary of $7,312,900 at Evercore. Combine that with the 23,263 units of Evercore stock worth over $8,700,950 he currently owns, and the $102,446,766 in stock he’s sold over the past 17 years, and you’re looking at an overall net worth of at least $118 million USD.
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