Peter G. Peterson is senior chairman and co-founder of The Blackstone Group, a private investment and advisory firm founded in 1985, with offices in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, London, Hamburg, Mumbai, and Paris. He is also chair of the Council on Foreign Relations, founding chair of the Institute for International Economics, and former co-chair of The Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprises. He chaired the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2000 to 2004.
Prior to founding Blackstone, Peterson was chair and CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973-77), and later held that same position with Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb, Inc. (1977-84). He was chair and CEO of Bell and Howell Corporation from 1963-1971. In 1971, President Richard Nixon named Peterson assistant to the president for International Economic Affairs. In 1972, he was similarly appointed U.S. Secretary of Commerce and assumed the chairmanship of Nixon