Stacy Helen Schusterman (born c. 1963) is an American heiress and billionaire businesswoman. The daughter of oil executive Charles Schusterman and his wife,

Lynn Schusterman Lynn Schusterman (née Rothschild; born January 21, 1939) is an American billionaire philanthropist. She is the co-founder (with her late husband Charles Schusterman, Charles) and chair of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and f ...

, Schusterman is the founder of

deepwater drilling Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater th ...

company Samson Energy. In addition to her work in business, Schusterman is active in the field of politics, and notably donated $1.55 million to advocacy group

Democratic Majority for Israel The Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) is a centrist or left-leaning American advocacy group that supports pro-Israel policies among the United States Democratic Party's political leaders. DMFI was founded in January 2019 in reaction to poll ...

(DMFI). As a philanthropist, Schusterman has donated to a number of ventures, and currently co-chairs the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

Early life

Stacy Helen Schusterman was born circa 1963. Her father, Charles Schusterman (1935-2000), was an

oilman The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...

who founded Samson Resources. Her mother,

, is a billionaire philanthropist. She has two brothers, Jay and Hal, who live in Israel. Schusterman studied in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1983 before returning to United States to attend

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1985. Schusterman later received a

master in business administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from the

McCombs School of Business The McCombs School of Business (McCombs School or McCombs) is a business school at The University of Texas at Austin, a public research university in Austin, Texas. In addition to the main campus in Downtown Austin, McCombs offers classes outside ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Business career

Schusterman started her career at her father's oil and gas company, Samson Resources. She served as its chief executive officer from 2000 to 2011, when she sold it to

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

for $7.2 billion. During her tenure as CEO, Schusterman switched the company investments from clean gas to oil,

shale gas Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some a ...

and

tight gas Tight gas is natural gas produced from reservoir rocks with such low permeability that massive hydraulic fracturing is necessary to produce the well at economic rates. This natural gas is trapped within rocks with very low permeability, in other ...

Samson Energy

After the buyout of Samson Resources, Schusterman founded Samson Energy, a

company whose main assets are on the

Gulf Coast of the United States The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

. She serves as its chair and chief executive officer. From 2019 to 2020, Samson Energy contributed $2.5 million to liberal groups. Samson Energy's activities in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

are reportedly controversial due to their proximity to populated areas. In 2019, the Cheyenne Area Landowners Association voiced concern about the placement of Samson Energy drilling spacing units, which partially fell within city limits. In opposition to Samson Energy's proposed expansion, Wayne Lax, the vice president of the association, cited a study by the

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government responsible for public health and environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all liv ...

that found that fracking sites posed a health danger to individuals living within 2,000 feet.

Granite Properties

In 1991, with Michael W. Dardick, Schusterman co-founded Granite Properties, a

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

-based real estate investment company. The company owns buildings in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. By 2015, Granite Properties had an annual revenue of $182.7 million and 150 employees.

Black Coral Property

Schusterman is also the founder of Black Coral Capital, a Boston-based

clean technology Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cle ...

investment firm.

Politics and philanthropy

Political activity

Schusterman is a top donor for advocacy group

(DMFI), and donated $1.55 million to the organization. Schusterman has donated to a variety of political candidates, including Democratic politicians such as Representatives

Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney and leader-elect of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeffries has represented New York's 8th congressional district, anchored in so ...

and

Shontel Brown Shontel Monique Brown (born June 24, 1975) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Brown previously served as a member of the Cuyahog ...

and Republicans such as Senators

Jim Inhofe James Mountain Inhofe ( ; born November 17, 1934) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Oklahoma, a seat he was first elected to in 1994. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the U.S. Senate Commit ...

and

John Barrasso John Anthony Barrasso III ( ; born July 21, 1952) is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming State ...

. Schusterman serves on the board of trustees of the

American Israel Public Affairs Committee The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Stat ...

(AIPAC). Schusterman is a supporter of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

and has called for Congress to pass the proposed Equality Act. Schusterman also helps fund National Parent Union, pushes her agenda in sex education at Tulsa Public Schools and financial donor of most charters in Tulsa.

Philanthropic activities

Schusterman also serves as the president of Bezalel Foundation, a non-profit organization which endows Jewish causes, and as a member of the

BBYO BBYO (formerly ''B'nai B'rith Youth Organization Inc.'') is a Jewish teen movement, organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization is intended to build the identity of Jewish teens and offer l ...

board of trustees. She also serves on the international board of governors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. During the 2010-2011 period, Schusterman endowed the Stacy Schusterman '85 Scholarship at her alma mater, Yale University. Alongside her mother

, Schusterman co-chairs the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, "the largest Jewish family foundation in America", with her mother. Schusterman and her husband support the Winter Relief Program of the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, including

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Personal life

Schusterman is married to Steven H. Dow, currently the head of the

Local Initiatives Support Corporation The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a US non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI) that supports community development initiatives across the country. It has offices in nearly 40 cities and works across 2,100 r ...

's (LISC)

chapter. The couple have three children and reside in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schusterman, Stacy H. Living people 1960s births American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Yale University alumni McCombs School of Business alumni American women chief executives American company founders American women company founders Philanthropists from Oklahoma Jewish American philanthropists American Israel Public Affairs Committee 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Jewish women philanthropists