David L. Steward (born July 2, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and founder of

World Wide Technology World Wide Technology, Inc. (WWT) is a privately-held technology services provider based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company has an annual revenue of $14.5 billion (the 27th largest private company in the US and the biggest black-owned company in ...

, one of the largest African-American-owned businesses in America. According to ''Forbes'', in 2019 Steward was one of 13 black billionaires worldwide. He was ranked 239th on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...

list of American billionaires in 2019.

Early life

Steward was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the son of Dorothy Elizabeth Massingale (1928 - present), a homemaker, and Harold Lloyd Steward (1925-1999), a mechanic. In 1953, the family moved to

Clinton, Missouri Clinton is a city in Henry County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,792 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Henry County. History Clinton was laid out in 1836. The city was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton ...

. As a child growing up in Clinton, Steward faced poverty and discrimination. "I vividly remember segregation—separate schools, sitting in the balcony at the movie theater, being barred from the public swimming pool," notes Steward, who was among a small group of African-American high-school students who integrated the public swimming pool in Clinton in 1967. Steward received his BS degree in business from

Central Missouri State University The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

in 1973.

Business career

After graduating from college, Steward worked at Wagner Electric as a production manager (1974–1975), a sales representative at

Missouri Pacific Railroad Company The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

(1975–1979), and a senior account executive at

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

(1979–1984), where he was recognized as salesman of the year and inducted into the company's hall of fame in 1981. He owned Transportation Business Specialists and Transport Administrative Services in the years leading up to founding World Wide Technology. He is also a founder of Telcobuy, a global technology and supply chain management company.

World Wide Technology

In 1990, Steward founded World Wide Technology, a systems integrator. In 1993, WWT concentrated its focus on the implementation of enterprise wide imaging, conversion services, and telecommunication networks. In 1999 World Wide Technology spun off its telecommunications division to form Telcobuy.com. Sales for the two companies continued to grow, although revenues slipped in 2002 as World Wide Technology felt the impact of the technology recession. In 2003 combined reported revenues passed $1 billion, and Steward formed World Wide Technology Holding Company as the parent company for the two firms. World Wide Technology's 2018 revenue is estimated to be greater than $11 billion, which would rank it as one of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

' largest private companies.

Publications

*''Doing Business by the Good Book'' (with Robert L. Shook)

Civic and community involvement

Steward has served on committees and boards that include: Civic Progress of St. Louis; the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association; Missouri Technology Corporation, appointed by the Governor of Missouri; Webster University; BJC Health System; First Banks, Inc.; St. Louis Science Center;

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

of Greater St. Louis; The Greater St. Louis Area Council of

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

and Harris-Stowe State College African-American Business Leadership Council. In 2011, Steward was appointed to the Board of Curators,

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

by Governor

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 55th Governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the governorship in 2008 and reel ...

, although he resigned before his term was through.

Honors

*100 Leaders for the Millennium, St. Louis Business Journal, 2000 *100+ Most Influential Black Americans - ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

'' magazine *14th Best American Entrepreneur, Success Magazine, 1998 *Business Person of the Year for Missouri, Small Business Administration *Company of the Year, Black Enterprise, 1999 *Entrepreneur of the Year, Black Enterprise, 2000 *Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 1998 *Five time winner, Fast 50 Awards *Granville T. Woods Award for Outstanding CEO, 1997 *Minority Small Business Person of the Year, Small Business Administration, 1997, 1998 *Phoenix Award, St. Louis Minority Business Council, 2000 *Small Business Association Hall of Fame, 2001 *The American Marketing Association 1996 Distinguished Executive *Top 100 Industrial/Service Companies, Black Enterprise, 11th in 1998, 6th in 1999, 1st in 2000 and 2001 *Top 100 List of St. Louis Leaders, 2002 *Top Minority Entrepreneur, Small Business Administration, 1998 *Black Engineer of the Year, BEYA STEM Conference, 2012 *Horatio Alger Award, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 2014 *Silver Buffalo Award, Boy Scouts of America

References

External links

Mizzouweekly.missouri.edu

Wwt.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steward, David 1951 births African-American billionaires American business writers American chief executives Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople in software Internet pioneers Living people People from Clinton, Missouri University of Central Missouri alumni African-American company founders American company founders 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people