David Steward

{{Infobox person

| name = David Steward

| birth_name = David Lloyd Steward

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|7|2}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Central Missouri State University

| spouse = Thelma

| children = 2; including Kimberly

| known_for = Chairman and founder of World Wide Technology

| boards = Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Centene Corporation
Webster University[http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=156316&privcapId=4218943&previousCapId=370857&previousTitle=BOEING%20CO/THE Businessweek]{{dead link|date=April 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
University of Missouri{{cite web|url=http://www.umsystem.edu/curators/members/stewardd|publisher=University of Missouri|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926005143/https://www.umsystem.edu/curators/members/stewardd|archivedate=September 26, 2015|title=David L. Steward}}

}}

David Lloyd Steward (born July 2, 1951) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and founder of World Wide Technology,{{cite news|title=David L Steward|url=https://people.forbes.com/profile/david-l-steward/17011|work=Forbes|accessdate=25 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613113739/http://people.forbes.com/profile/david-l-steward/17011|archive-date=13 June 2011|url-status=dead}} one of the largest African-American-owned businesses in America.{{cite encyclopedia|title=David L Steward, 1951-|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Steward-David-L-1951.html|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed|accessdate=25 March 2011}}

He was ranked 344th on the Forbes list of worldwide billionaires in 2024 with an estimated net worth of US$11.4 billion.{{cite news|title=2024 Billionaires Net Worth|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-steward/?list=forbes-400#63859fe95626|work=Forbes |access-date=16 September 2024}}

Early life

Steward was born in 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Dorothy Elizabeth Massingale, a homemaker, and Harold Lloyd Steward, a mechanic.{{Cite web |title=David L. Steward

|url=https://horatioalger.org/members/detail/david-l-steward/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans |language=en-US}} In 1953, the family moved to Clinton, Missouri. As a child growing up in Clinton, Steward faced poverty and discrimination.{{cite web |url=http://www.riseandgrind.com/2009/12/03/david-l-steward/ |title=Riseandgrind.com |access-date=2011-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220152739/http://www.riseandgrind.com/2009/12/03/david-l-steward/ |archive-date=2009-12-20 |url-status=dead }}

"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.Steward, David L., and Robert L. Shook, Doing Business by the Good Book, New York: Hyperion, 2004

Steward received his Bachelor of Science in business from Central Missouri State University in 1973.

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. He is also a founder of Telcobuy, a global technology and supply chain management company.{{cite web|url=https://www.telcobuy.com/about.html|title=Telcobuy.com | About|website=www.telcobuy.com}}

=World Wide Technology=

In 1990, Steward co-founded World Wide Technology, a systems integrator. In 1993, WWT concentrated its focus on the implementation of enterprise wide imaging, conversion services, and telecommunication networks.{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmo.edu/market/html/amaexec.html#steward|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930191348/http://www.ucmo.edu/market/html/amaexec.html|archivedate=September 30, 2011|publisher=Hormon College of Business Administration|title=Mr. David L. Steward – AMA Distinguished Executive for 1996}}

In 1999 WWT spun off its telecommunications division to form Telcobuy.com. Sales for the two companies continued to grow, although revenues slipped in 2002 as WWT 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.

WWT's 2018 revenue was estimated to be greater than $11 billion,{{cite web |url=https://www2.wwt.com/all-news/press-kit/|date=December 22, 2016 |title=Press Kit|publisher=World Wide Technology|access-date=March 8, 2019}} which would've ranked it as one of St. Louis's largest private companies.{{cite news| url=http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/print-edition/2010/12/10/world-wide-technology-incs-sales.html | date=10 December 2010 | first=Rick | last=Desloge | title=World Wide Technology Inc.'s sales pass $3 billion}}

Civic and community involvement

Steward has been 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.; Saint Louis Science Center; United Way of Greater St. Louis; The Greater St. Louis Area Council of Boy Scouts of America and Harris–Stowe State University African-American Business Leadership Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.nmsdcus.org/nmsdc/app/template/contentMgmt,ContentPage.vm/contentid/1913;jsessionid=2DE471959040F16976A161951ED6F11E|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327152824/http://www.nmsdcus.org/nmsdc/app/template/contentMgmt,ContentPage.vm/contentid/1913;jsessionid=2DE471959040F16976A161951ED6F11E|archivedate=March 27, 2012|publisher=National Minority Supplier Development Council|title=David L. Steward}} In 2011, Steward was appointed to the board of curators, University of Missouri by Governor Jay Nixon, although he resigned before his term was through.{{Cite web|title=David Steward resigns from University of Missouri Board of Curators|url=https://www.columbiatribune.com/article/20160201/NEWS/302019988|access-date=2021-02-26|website=Columbia Daily Tribune|language=en}}

Political activities

In 2019, while Steward served on the Washington University in St. Louis board of trustees, he supported a measure in Missouri General Assembly that would affect Title IX investigations at universities.{{Cite web |last=Suntrup |first=Jack |date=2019-03-06 |title=Wash U 'strongly opposes' Title IX changes that one of its trustees supports |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/wash-u-strongly-opposes-title-ix-changes-that-one-of-its-trustees-supports/article_e24ce28a-2a76-58b3-b43a-a4f64f584dd5.html |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} The measure was initiated by a lobbyist, employed by Steward at the time, whose son was expelled from Washington University following a Title IX violation.{{Cite web |last=Hancock |first=Jason |date=November 12, 2021 |title=GOP auditor hopeful scores endorsements from Missouri billionaire, legislative leader |url=https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/gop-auditor-hopeful-scores-endorsements-from-missouri-billionaire-legislative-leader/ |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=Missouri Independent |language=en-US}}

Steward was finance chair of the Trust In The Mission PAC, a super PAC supporting Senator Tim Scott's Republican 2024 Presidential Campaign.{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Brian |date=2023-09-26 |title=Super PAC backing Tim Scott GOP presidential bid taps billionaire tech exec as finance chair |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/26/tim-scott-super-pac-picks-billionaire-tech-exec-to-be-finance-chair.html |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=CNBC |language=en}} In 2024, Steward donated about $230,000 to PACs supporting Republican candidates, including Mike Parson and Mike Kehoe.{{Cite web |last=Vasan |first=Paula |date=2024-10-07 |title=Critics question political donations from World Wide Technology's founder amid ongoing IT issues plaguing Missouri's child care centers |url=https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/political-donations-world-wide-technologys-founder-it-issues-missouri-child-care-centers/63-d4a6c72c-3a27-4d45-a438-43f9ebac686d |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=ksdk.com |language=en-US}}

Publications

Doing Business by the Good Book (with Robert L. Shook){{cite news|last=Young |first=Stephanie |title=The Steps to Success |url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/?s=world+wide+technology |accessdate=25 March 2011 |newspaper=Black Enterprise |date=August 1, 2004 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310170728/http://www.blackenterprise.com/?s=world+wide+technology |archivedate=March 10, 2012 }}

Recognition

100 Leaders for the Millennium, St. Louis Business Journal, 2000{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/david-steward|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110115326/http://www.answers.com/topic/david-steward|archivedate=November 10, 2012|title=Dave Steward|publisher=Answers.com|last=Kiser|first=Helene Barker}}
100+ Most Influential Black Americans - Ebony magazine {{cite news|title=100+ Most Influential Black Americans|url={{GBurl|id=5tUDAAAAMBAJ|q=Steward|p=68}}|accessdate=25 March 2011|newspaper=Ebony magazine|date=May 2002|publisher = Johnson Publishing Company}}
14th Best American Entrepreneur, Success Magazine, 1998
Business Person of the Year for Missouri, Small Business Administration
Company of the Year, Black Enterprise, 1999
Entrepreneur of the Year, Black Enterprise, 2000
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 1998
Five time winner, Fast 50 Awards
Granville T. Woods Award for Outstanding CEO, 1997
Minority Small Business Person of the Year, Small Business Administration, 1997, 1998
Phoenix Award, St. Louis Minority Business Council, 2000
Small Business Association Hall of Fame, 2001
The American Marketing Association 1996 Distinguished Executive
Top 100 Industrial/Service Companies, Black Enterprise, 11th in 1998, 6th in 1999, 1st in 2000 and 2001
Top 100 List of St. Louis Leaders, 2002
Top Minority Entrepreneur, Small Business Administration, 1998
Black Engineer of the Year, BEYA STEM Conference, 2012{{cite web |url=http://www2.wwt.com/content/david-steward-wins-2012-black-engineer-year-award |title=Wwt.com |access-date=2014-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222012429/http://www2.wwt.com/content/david-steward-wins-2012-black-engineer-year-award |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }}
Horatio Alger Award, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/david-steward-named-horatio-alger-award-recipient/article_d5bbfbb3-07ef-5050-967b-1f572b445762.html|title=David Steward named Horatio Alger Award recipient|first=Lisa|last=Brown|website=stltoday.com|date=November 19, 2013 }}
Silver Buffalo Award, Boy Scouts of America{{cite web|url=https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/05/26/meet-2017-silver-buffalo-award-class/|title=Meet your 2017 Silver Buffalo Award class|first=Bryan|last=Wendell|date=May 26, 2017|website=Bryan on Scouting}}