Peter G. Peterson

Born 1926-06-05 Kearney, NE (USA)

Died 2018-03-20
New York, NY (USA)

Peterson was born and raised in Kearney, Nebraska, where his Greek immigrant father ran a 24-hour diner. He attended MIT, but got his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. He led a storied business career. He served as an executive vice-president, and later as Chairman and CEO of Bell and Howell Corporation. He served briefly as Secretary of Commerce in the Nixon Administration. Later, he served as Chairman and CEO of Lehmann Brothers investment bank. He was a co-founder of the Blackstone Group, a private equity and investment management firm that is sometimes termed a hedge fund. In 2008 his net worth was estimated at 2.8 billion dollars.

He has served in a number of government advisory positions and on government commissions that have examined economic and fiscal issues. As a co-founder of the Concord Coalition (1992) and founder of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Peterson has been a leading advocate of the policies of low taxation for the wealthy, strict austerity in government spending, and low labor costs. Through the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Peterson has played a leading role in funding advocacy for those "neo-liberal" policies within the United States.

Peterson has written memoirs and works on public policy that explore the connections between his views and his experiences. His third wife is Joan Ganz Cooney, founder and chairman of the executive committee of the Children's Television Workshop.

Places Lived

Kearney, NE
Cambridge, MA
Chicago, IL
Washington, D.C.
New York, NY

Author Of

Nonfiction

Keywords

Economics; Investment Banking; Politics

Education

Undergraduate Studies, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA
Bachelor's Degree, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Occupation

Investment Banker
United States Secretary of Commerce
President and CEO
Investment Advisor
Writer

Places Worked

Market Facts
McCann-Erickson
Bell Howell Corporation
Lehman Brothers
The Blackstone Group
The Concord Group

Honors

Received distinguished Nebraskalander award at a Statehood Day ceremony February 26, 1994

Associations

Founder and President of The Concord Group, a bipartisan citizens group dedicated to building a national program to revitalize the American economy and balance the national budget

Bibliography

Facing Up: How to Rescue the Economy From Crushing Debt and Restore the American Dream. 1993.
Will America Grow up Before It Grows Old? 1996.
Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Will Transform America--And The World. 1999.
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It. 2004.
The Education of an American Dreamer. 2009.

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