Bernard Leon Schwartz (born December 13, 1925) is the former

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Loral Space & Communications Loral Space & Communications Inc. is a Delaware-domiciled satellite communications company headed by Michael B. Targoff. The company was formed in 1996 from the remnants of Loral Corporation when Loral divested its defense electronics and syst ...

, a position he held for 34 years. He also served as Chairman and CEO of K&F Industries, Inc., and president and CEO of

Globalstar Telecommunications Globalstar, Inc. is an American satellite communications company that operates a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications. The Globalstar second-generation constellation consists of 24 ...

. He retired from Loral and his positions at its various subsidiaries and affiliates as of March 1, 2006. He is currently the Chairman and CEO of BLS Investments, his own investment firm located in Manhattan.

Biography

Schwartz was born in Brooklyn,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. and grew up in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. He is Jewish. Schwartz graduated from Townsend Harris High School in NYC. He holds a B.S. in finance and an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

doctorate of science from

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. He is a World War II veteran, having served in the US Army Air Corps. After school, he worked as an accountant eventually becoming a partner at a Wall Street firm. He then went on to serve as a vice president of American President Lines and then president of

Reliance Insurance Reliance Insurance Company, now officially known as Reliance Insurance Company n Liquidation was founded in Philadelphia in 1817 and has undergone numerous corporate makeovers in the intervening years. As of October 3, 2001, the company has bee ...

Co. (formerly Leasco) for four years. In 1972, he bought a 12% stake in Loral Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed manufacturer of satellites and satellite systems, where he served as its Chairman and CEO for 34 years.

Political activities

Schwartz is a lifelong Democrat. According to NBC News, he was the largest single contributor to the Democratic Party from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, he celebrated his 71st birthday with Bill and Hillary Clinton at the White House. In 1998 Schwartz became embroiled in a campaign donations scandal and an alleged transfer of missile technology to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

that occurred in 1996. He was exonerated of any wrongdoing in the campaign finance matter after a Justice Department investigation. Loral settled the missile transfer matter with the Justice Department in 2002, paying a $14 million fine and admitting no wrongdoing. In 2016, Schwartz donated US$1 million to Priorities USA Action, a Super PAC supporting Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Schwartz is also in the $5 million - $10 million bracket of donors to the Clinton Foundation.

Foreign Policy

In 2002, the Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellowship in Business and Foreign Policy was established at the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

with a gift from the

Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

. The fellowship was created to focus on the global integration of financial markets and its implications for U.S. economic and foreign policy. Schwartz did not actually become a member of the Council on Foreign Relations until 2003, the following year.

Personal life

Schwartz was married to the former Irene Zanderer and lives in New York City; she died in 2014. They had two daughters. He remarried to Denise Jansen. Schwartz was a member of the United Jewish Appeal Federations's real estate committee. In 2002, he and his wife donated $5 million to Baruch College.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Bernard 1925 births Living people Philanthropists from New York (state) American chief executives 20th-century American Jews People from Brooklyn Loral Space & Communications New York (state) Democrats American real estate businesspeople Townsend Harris High School alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 21st-century American Jews