The New Yorker: Stephen Schwarzman (2)

To earn some extra money, Schwarzman worked for the Yale alumni office and then the admissions office. Larry Noble, a 1953 graduate who worked in the alumni office, introduced Schwarzman to others in Yale’s extensive alumni network, including his classmate Bill Donaldson, who was running an investment-banking firm, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. (Donaldson went on to become chairman and C.E.O. of the New York Stock Exchange and chairman of the S.E.C.) Schwarzman waited in the reception area for half an hour, watching as young bankers hurried past in shirtsleeves, followed by secretaries wearing short skirts and big gold earrings. “It seemed fast-moving, intense,” Schwarzman recalled. “Everyone seemed happy.” When Donaldson asked him why he wanted to work at the firm, Schwarzman replied, “Mr. Donaldson, I don’t even know what you do. But if you have such great-looking girls and intense guys then I want to do it.” Schwarzman was hired at a salary of ten thousand five hundred dollars, which, by his account, was “five hundred dollars more than anyone else in my class at Yale.” He quickly realized that he was unqualified. He left after six months, but, before leaving, he had lunch with Donaldson. “I’m sorry I didn’t make more of a contribution,” Schwarzman recalls saying. “If you don’t mind my asking, why did you hire me and waste your money?”

“It’s simple,” Donaldson replied. “One day you’ll be the head of this firm.”

“You must be kidding. Why?”

“It’s my instinct. You have something special and I want to bet on it.”

(Donaldson says that he has no recollection of such an incident, but he does recall telling Schwarzman that if he returned to the firm he would do well.)