Newsmakers
Library Dues
The son of a linen- and curtain-store owner, Steve Schwarzman (MBA ’72), chairman and CEO of The Blackstone Group, has done pretty well for himself in life; he attributes a measure of that success to the public libraries he made use of as a youngster. Now a trustee of the New York Public Library, Schwarzman is donating $100 million to the institution, the largest gift in its history, the Associated Press reported (March 12, 2008). Established in 1895, the library is “a passport to the American dream for lower- and middle-income Americans and immigrants from around the world,” Schwarzman said. “It’s a free university for everyone, from children to scholars. I’ve always loved this library, particularly for the way it serves all people and entirely without cost to them.” The library aims to raise $1 billion over five years in order to expand and modernize.
Toy Story
In 2005, a year after the venerable toy retailer FAO Schwartz emerged from bankruptcy, Ed Schmults (MBA ’89) became its CEO. “The company was relying on its glorious past but was without a clear brand direction,” Schmults explained to the New York Times (March 9, 2008). With a brand criterion centered on quality, FAO Schwartz now focuses on higher-end toys. The company is also designing its own products with its own brand and has acquired a children’s clothing company.
The chain is now down from forty stores to just three, in New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago. Referring to 2007 compared with 2006, Schmults said that “any time you’re in a tough retail environment and your traffic is up 50 percent, you know you’re doing something right.” He added, “This is a happy place to work. How could it not be? You see kids racing around the store. I hope to be here for a long time.”
Tu Veux Sprechen Conmigo Online?
“It’s cool to say you speak six languages,” Karen Ong (MBA ’08) told the Boston Globe (March 12, 2008). “But the process of learning a language is boring.” So Ong decided to do something about it. She created MyHappyPlanet.com, an online social network in which like-minded people can communicate and interact with written and spoken messages and videos. It includes features that correct grammar and vocabulary and offer translations. Best of all, the Globe said, it facilitates “fluid conversation with native speakers about common interests, instead of stilted conversations driven by a vocabulary list.” Launched last summer, MyHappyPlanet had 100,000 members as of March.
The Real Deal
Leppert
ELLENA FORTNER/COURTESY DALLAS MAYOR'S OFFICE
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert (MBA ’79) is making a push to help the homeless population in his city, the Dallas Morning News reported (March 13, 2008). The city has opened a homeless assistance center, and Leppert told a gathering of advocates for the homeless that he anticipates the creation of a $20 million housing trust fund.“To progress together, we need to understand the needs of others,” Leppert declared.
Described by the News as “a career businessman and self-made millionaire who often crafts his political messages in economic terms,” Leppert called on the business community to help combat homelessness and its root causes. “Investments are, at their heart, a belief that we can create opportunities,” he noted. “The private sector must step up. Government can’t do everything and shouldn’t do everything. It should set a foundation, it should set priorities.” One civic leader said of Leppert, “This mayor is the real deal. Tom Leppert cares about every street, every corner, and every person in this city…he’s refreshing in every respect.”
Smartphones Get Smarter
When Apple’s Steve Jobs announced a new licensing deal for Microsoft software that makes Apple’s iPhone more attractive to businesspeople, venture capitalist John Doerr (MBA ’76) of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers was also on hand, the New York Times reported (March 7, 2008). Jobs took the occasion to reveal that Doerr’s firm has created a $100 million “iFund” to encourage programmers to develop all manner of software, from games to business, for the iPhone; Kleiner Perkins will back promising new iPhone ideas and the entrepreneurs behind them. “The potential for iPhone is huge,” Doerr said.
Apple’s deal with Microsoft marked a big step in its campaign to compete with BlackBerry in the smartphone sector — the Canadian company holds 41 percent of U.S. market share to iPhone’s 28 percent. Even as Apple seeks to broaden its appeal in the corporate world, BlackBerry is adding features to entice non-business consumers. With the two devices blurring their differences, Jim Balsillie (MBA ’89), co–chief executive of Research In Motion, BlackBerry’s manufacturer, noted that “blackberries have a lot of antioxidants, and apples have a lot of fiber, too” (Financial Post, March 7, 2008).
New Face at Facebook
“It was the shot heard ’round Silicon Valley: Internet upstart Facebook, Inc. raided search giant Google, Inc. for a No. 2 executive it hoped would turn the social-networking Web site into a major moneymaker,” declared the Los Angeles Times (March 5, 2008). The individual in question was Sheryl Sandberg (MBA ’95), “one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent women executives, with a powerhouse résumé that includes a stint as chief of staff at the U.S. Treasury Department during the Clinton administration.”
As vice president for global online sales and operations, Sandberg ran Google’s lucrative advertising arm, which generates more than half its revenue and employs thousands of people. In addition to developing an advertising network for Facebook, she will be in charge of marketing and human resources. “Facebook represents one of the most exciting opportunities there could be, if not the most exciting opportunity,” Sandberg said.
