Thomas Steyer: a biography of an American billionaire
American businessman Thomas Steyer is known not only as a successful hedge fund manager and founder of Farallon Capital. He also takes an active social position in the sphere of environmental protection and finances various philanthropic projects. In 2010 Steyer and his wife signed a document committing to donate 50% of their capital to charity. According to the latest figures, the businessman’s capital amounts to 1.5 billion dollars.
Steyer was born in 1957 in the family of a lawyer in New York. The future businessman received higher education at Yale University, where he studied economics. In 1979 he took a position at Morgan Stanley, where he worked for two years before going to Stanford Business School. There he earned his master’s degree in business administration. After that Thomas worked for several years at Goldman Sachs, and then he received a partner position at the investment firm Hellman & Friedman.
In 1986, Steyer created the hedge fund Farallon Capital, which he managed until 2012. During this period, the company’s capital under management totaled $20 billion, and the businessman himself specialized in high-risk assets.
After his departure, Steyer decided to focus his activities on green energy, gradually getting rid of assets that are harmful to the environment.
In 2006, Thomas and his wife founded OneRoof, which provides educational services to rural communities in India and Mexico. The organization opens Internet centers where they teach computer literacy and provide broadband Internet connections in impoverished regions in those countries. Additionally, the couple founded Beneficial State Bank, which provides services to nonprofits and individuals on favorable terms, and supports low-income communities in California.
Steyer is active on climate change issues and funds green energy projects. Together with his wife, he bought a ranch that uses sustainable, environmentally friendly agricultural technologies.
In addition to his community work, Steyer is also involved in politics. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has funded the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In addition, Stayer has sponsored campaigns in support of Donald Trump’s impeachment. In 2020, the businessman ran for president but quickly dropped out of the race in favor of Joe Biden.
Since 2015, Steyer has been a member of the Energy Coalition, which was organized by Bill Gates. The goal of the organization is to promote the use of alternative energy sources and increase their availability to a wide range of consumers.
For his contribution to environmental protection, Stayer has received various awards and prizes.