American businessman
David L. Steward (born July 2, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and founder of World Wide Technology,[4] one of the largest African-American-owned businesses in America.[5]
According to Forbes, in 2019 Steward was one of 13 black billionaires worldwide.[6][7] He was ranked 239th on the Forbes 400 list of American billionaires in 2019.[8]
Early life
Steward was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Dorothy Elizabeth Massingale, a homemaker, and Harold Lloyd Steward, a mechanic.[5] In 1953, the family moved to Clinton, Missouri. As a child growing up in Clinton, Steward faced poverty and discrimination.[9]
"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.[10]
Steward received his BS degree in business from Central Missouri State University in 1973.[3][5]
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 (1975–1979), and a senior account executive at Federal Express (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.[5] He is also a founder of Telcobuy, a global technology and supply chain management company.[11]
World Wide Technology
In 1990, Steward founded World Wide Technology, a systems integrator.[3] In 1993, WWT concentrated its focus on the implementation of enterprise wide imaging, conversion services, and telecommunication networks.[12]
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.[5]
World Wide Technology's 2018 revenue is estimated to be greater than $11 billion,[13] which would rank it as one of St. Louis' largest private companies.[14]
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 of Greater St. Louis; The Greater St. Louis Area Council of Boy Scouts of America and Harris-Stowe State College African-American Business Leadership Council.[15] In 2011, Steward was appointed to the board of curators, University of Missouri by Governor Jay Nixon,[3] although he resigned before his term was through.[16]
Steward serves on the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees. In 2019, he supported a measure in Missouri General Assembly that would affect Title IX investigations at universities.[17] The measure was initiated by a lobbyist, who worked for Steward at the time, whose son was expelled from Washington University following a Title IX violation.[18]
Steward served as finance chair of the Trust In The Mission PAC, a super PAC supporting Senator Tim Scott's Republican 2024 Presidential Campaign.[19]
