A journalist with a background in finance, Stephen Robert has written articles for a variety of leading national publications. As a financial commentator for Forbes magazine, Mr. Robert wrote a piece entitled “The Fed’s Japanese Mistake Kicks Working People in the Teeth,” in which he offered his opinion about the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise inflationary expectations, while driving down long-term interest rates. Stephen Robert warned in his article that such a decision could slow the nation’s economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and help to spur speculation in the commodities market, which could become the next asset bubble. These concerns echoed an earlier piece Mr. Robert wrote for the website The Daily Beast called “Don’t Repeat Japan’s Mistake.” In this article, Stephen Robert suggests that the Treasury Department would be better off handling the ’08 crisis in a manner similar to the way it dealt with the savings-and-loan crisis of the early ’90s, instead of handling the situation like the Japanese did during their own financial crisis in the ’90s.
Stephen Robert has also written several articles about the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. For the political magazine The Nation, Mr. Robert’s article, “Apartheid on Steroids,” discusses his own experience as a Jew returning to the Holy Land and his disappointment at what he personally witnessed in the West Bank. Mr. Robert describes the dire conditions faced by Palestinians living in the West Bank and concludes the article by expressing his hope that President Obama will lead an effort to unite the two warring groups in a two-state solution. Stephen Robert readdresses this issue in an article he wrote for Ha’aretz, the oldest newspaper in Israel, entitled, “Can Moral Nations Abandon Palestine?” Here, Mr. Robert argues that the U.S. has lost moral standing in the eyes of the world by not publicly condemning Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. When not writing, Stephen Robert spends time working with his humanitarian organization, Source of Hope Foundation. A financial expert and philanthropist, Stephen Robert and his wife founded Source of Hope Foundation. Since its establishment, The Source of Hope Foundation has been active in nations such as Colombia, Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Israel, and Palestine. Under the Roberts’ leadership, the foundation provides assistance to communities lacking resources such as health care, education, water, food, and micro-financing opportunities. In addition to sending much-needed resources to struggling communities abroad and in the United States, Source of Hope Foundation also provides relief for those affected by natural disasters. Stephen Robert and the organization continue to research better methods for delivering humanitarian assistance.
In addition to his work with the foundation, Mr. Robert serves as a Trustee of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and a former Board member of the New York Philharmonic and WNET’s THIRTEEN, a leading local television station. Stephen Robert began his career more than 40 years ago. Starting as a portfolio manager of the Oppenheimer Fund in 1968, Stephen Robert became President of the Oppenheimer Group in 1979 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1983. In 1997, he sold the Oppenheimer Group to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. In 2005, Mr. Robert joined Renaissance Technologies Corp. as Chairman and CEO of its subsidiary, Renaissance Institutional Management. He was a member of the parent company’s executive committee, as well. In 2008, Stephen Robert left Renaissance to focus on his philanthropic activities on a full-time basis. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Stephen Robert has supported the organization by leading numerous study groups. For almost a decade, Mr. Robert served as Chancellor of Brown University and has been a Trustee or Fellow of the University since 1984. He also offers his time an overseer at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown. |
AuthorThe former owner, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Archives
March 2022
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