About the Authors
Howard Stevenson has made and managed his own money, for himself, his family and clients. He also is deeply committed to philanthropy as a donor, board member and fundraiser. Harvard Business School (HBS) has been the nexus of a career that has included entrepreneurial ventures in real estate and investing.
He was the founder and first president of the Baupost Group. Inc., which manages partnerships investing in liquid securities for wealthy families. He now serves as Advisory Board co-chair of Baupost LLC, a $29 billion registered investment company.
As a professor at Harvard Business School, Howard touched the lives of thousands of students and held several leadership positions. He is considered the founding father of entrepreneurial management at HBS. Upon Howard’s recent retirement, a chair was named in his honor.
Howard also is a prolific author, having published eleven books as well as hundreds of articles and case studies. His most cherished role, however, is as the member of a family that he describes as “wealthy enough to have real choices and complex enough to face real challenges.”
Shirley Spence began working with Howard as a research associate at Harvard Business School and has collaborated with him on several projects including the family book upon which Wealth and Families is based, and Getting to Giving: Fundraising the Entrepreneurial Way.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, her career journey has included teaching high school French, brand management at Procter & Gamble, and management consulting at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) where she became a partner. Shirley’s work and personal interests have afforded her the pleasure of visiting many parts of the globe, and meeting a wide variety of people. Her passions are a love of learning, and the joy of enabling others to learn and share their learnings.