Peter Peterson, Billionaire and Philanthropist, Dies at 91
Peter G. Peterson, a billionaire and business executive who became one of the most prominent voices to argue for entitlement reform and reducing the U.S. national debt, died of natural causes early Tuesday, his family said. He was 91.
Born in the small town of Kearney, Nebraska, to Greek immigrants, Peterson was CEO of two major U.S. companies and co-founded one of the world's largest private-equity firms.
He was already a national figure in business by the early 1960s, serving as chairman and CEO of Bell and Howell, one of the largest manufacturers of movie cameras at the time.
He left Bell and Howell to work for the Nixon administration in the early 1970s, eventually serving as secretary of commerce from 1972 to 1973.
He took over as chief executive of the investment bank Lehman Brothers in 1973 after leaving the Nixon administration. In 1985, he co-founded the private-equity firm Blackstone Group with Stephen Schwarzman.
"His intelligence, wit and vision made him an inspirational leader who brought people together from the White House to Wall Street," his family said in a statement.
Blackstone went on to become one of biggest private-equity firms in the world, with $434 billion in assets under management at the end of last year. When the firm went public in 2007, Peterson's stake in the company made him a billionaire. His wealth was estimated at $2 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.
Peterson dedicated the rest of his life to what he called "key fiscal challenges threatening America's future," donating $1 billion to create the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in 2007.