Gustavo Schwed

Gustavo Schwed joined NYU-Stern as an Adjunct Professor in 2013 and became a Professor of Management Practice in 2015. He teaches private equity courses to MBA students and is currently the Faculty Advisor for the Stern Private Equity Club and the Latin American Business Association. Professor Schwed was named NYU Stern’s Professor of the Year by the 2015 MBA graduating class.

Prior to joining Stern, Professor Schwed was an investment professional in the private equity industry. During his twenty-five year career, he worked at venture capital and large buy-out firms and lived in and practiced private equity in the US, Europe, and Latin America.

Professor Schwed was a partner and Managing Director at Providence Equity Partners, the world’s largest media and telecommunications specialist private equity firm, with over $40 billion of assets under management. Working in the London office, he was one of the partners responsible for the firm’s European business. Professor Schwed participated in the fund raising of Providence VI, a $12 billion fund which was the largest industry specialized private equity fund ever raised. At Providence Professor Schwed led several transactions in the telecommunications industry, including the largest LBO in European history at the time and some of the firm’s most successful deals in recent years. Professor Schwed was a member of the firm’s Valuation Committee and Portfolio Committee, which was responsible for the oversight of the firm’s portfolio of over fifty companies.

Prior to joining Providence, Professor Schwed was a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Private Equity, where he launched and ran the firm’s Latin American private equity business out of the firm’s Sao Paulo office and became the Chairman of the firm’s Global Emerging Markets Fund, Morgan Stanley’s vehicle for private equity investing in Latin America, Asia, and Central Europe. He subsequently moved to London where he became one of three partners running Morgan Stanley’s European private equity business.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Professor Schwed was an Executive Director at Bassini, Playfair + Associates (BPA). He helped BPA raise and manage a $300 million Latin America private equity fund, one of the first of its kind. While at BPA, Professor Schwed moved to Brazil where he opened and co-ran the firm’s Brazilian office. He began his post MBA career at the New York office of Sprout Group, the venture capital affiliate of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) where he developed the firm’s practice in medical devices venture investing.

Professor Schwed currently serves on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College, where he is Chairman of the Finance Committee and is a member of the Executive, Nominations & Governance, Compensation, and Investment Committees. As part of the Investment Committee, he is responsible for the oversight of the college’s $2 Billion endowment, focusing on the endowment’s investments in private equity.

Professor Schwed received a BA with High Honors from Swarthmore College in 1984 and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1988. He is a US, UK and Argentine citizen and speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Education

• Master of Business Administration (MBA) Stanford University Graduate School of Business (1986 — 1988)
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) Swarthmore College (1980 — 1984)

Companies

• Director/Investor Finnovate Acquisition Corp. (2021)
• Visiting Professor Princeton University (2018)
• Professor of Management Practice NYU Stern School of Business (2015)
• Adjunct Professor NYU Stern School of Business (2013 — 2014)
• Managing Director Providence Equity Partners (2004 — 2012)
• Managing Director, Co-Head European Private Equity, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners Morgan Stanley (1998 — 2004)
• Executive Director Bassini Playfair Wright (1995 — 1998)
• Analyst, Associate, VP, Executive Director Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (1988 — 1994)