Paul Francis Pelosi Sr. (born April 15, 1940) is an American businessman who owns and operates Financial Leasing Services, Inc., a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

-based real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm. He was the owner of the

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional American football team based in Sacramento, California that played in the United Football League. The franchise originated as the California Redwoods, and played its home games in San Francisco and ...

of the United Football League. He is married to Nancy Pelosi, the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Early life

Pelosi was born and raised in San Francisco, the youngest in a family of three boys. He is the son of Corinne (Bianchi) and John Pelosi, a wholesale pharmacist. He attended St. Ignatius High School and graduated from

Malvern Preparatory School , motto_translation = Truth, Unity, Love , address = 418 South Warren Avenue , location = , region = , city = Malvern , county = , state ...

in Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor of science (BS) in

foreign service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, during which he met his future wife, Nancy D'Alesandro, who was attending a Roman Catholic women's college, Trinity College, in Washington, D.C. He earned an MBA from the Stern School of Business at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. He has been the chair of the Foreign Service Board at Georgetown since 2009.

Career

Pelosi founded and runs the

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

firm Financial Leasing Services, Inc., through which he and his wife have a personal fortune of about $114 million. Having previously invested in the

Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can tra ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, he purchased the California Redwoods, a franchise in the United Football League, for $12 million in 2009. The Redwoods later moved to Sacramento to become the

. Pelosi's success in stock trading attracted media attention in the summer of 2021, leading to efforts to strictly control individual stock ownership by members of Congress.

Personal life

In 1957, at the age of 16, Pelosi lost control of a car that he was driving and crashed. His older brother David, who was a passenger in the car, died in the crash. Pelosi was subsequently acquitted of misdemeanor manslaughter. Pelosi married Nancy Pelosi (), on September 7, 1963, at the

Cathedral of Mary Our Queen The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is a Catholic cathedral located in northern Baltimore, Maryland. The structure, remarkable in size, was completed in 1959. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Baltimore, joining the Basilica of the Nati ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. They have five children including

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

and Alexandra. Nancy served as the 52nd

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U ...

from 2007 to 2011. She became the Speaker again in 2019. In May 2022, Pelosi was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in

Napa County Napa County () is a county north of San Pablo Bay located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 138,019. The county seat is the City of Napa. Napa County was one of the original c ...

after he crashed into another car at an intersection. Pelosi pleaded guilty in August 2022 and was sentenced to serving five days in jail, paying $6,800 in fines and restitution, completing a DUI program, as well as three years of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

2022 attack

In the early hours of October 28, 2022, an assailant broke into Paul Pelosi's San Francisco home shouting "Where's Nancy?", and subsequently attacked him with a hammer. The suspect was taken into police custody, while Paul was hospitalized with blunt force injuries. Paul underwent skull surgery after the attack. An initial statement from Nancy's spokesperson said doctors expected him to make a full recovery. On October 31, Nancy reported he was "making steady progress on what will be a long recovery process." On November 3, Paul was discharged from hospital. The suspect, 42-year-old David DePape, told police he was on "a suicide mission" and wanted to take Nancy hostage, question her, and break her kneecaps if she lied. DePape was charged with multiple crimes including assault, attempted homicide, and attempted kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty to all state charges. Pelosi first returned to public view over a month later, when he appeared with his wife at the Kennedy Center Honors. He wore a hat and one glove to conceal his injuries.

References

External links

Profile
at UFL-Football.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelosi, Paul 1940 births Living people American company founders 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American people of Italian descent American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from San Francisco Georgetown University alumni Pelosi family Sacramento Mountain Lions New York University Stern School of Business alumni United Football League (2009–2012) owners Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni