Dan Schwartz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 22ndTreasurer of Nevada | |
| In office January 5, 2015 – January 7, 2019 | |
| Governor | Brian Sandoval |
| Preceded by | Kate Marshall |
| Succeeded by | Zach Conine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Daniel Mark Schwartz (1950-07-28)July 28, 1950 (age 75) |
| Party | Republican |
| Education | Princeton University (AB) Columbia University (MBA) Boston University (JD) |
| Website | danschwartzfornevada |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1972–1974 |
| Rank | Specialist 4th Class |
Daniel Mark Schwartz (born July 28, 1950) is an American businessman who served asNevada State Treasurer from January 2015 to January 2019. An international businessman,attorney andRepublican, Schwartz defeated hisDemocratic opponent, formerNevada State ControllerKim Wallin, in 2014.
He lost the Republican primary forNevada's 3rd congressional district in2020. Schwartz was endorsed by state assemblymenAl Kramer,John Hambrick, formerClark County CommissionerBruce Woodbury,[1]Danny and Amy Tarkanian,[2] former Nevada State ControllerRon Knecht and former state senatorSue Lowden.[3]
He ran forLieutenant Governor of Nevada in2022.[4]
Schwartz was born on July 28, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Francine (née Abrahams) and Jim Schwartz.[5] His grandfather was a rabbi and his father was an early Holiday Inn owner. He has one brother, Stephen, and one sister, Marian. Schwartz attended Oak Park and River High School where he graduated in the "top 20" of his 800-member class and was president of his senior class. Schwartz attendedPrinceton University and graduated with an A.B. in politics in 1972 after completing a senior thesis titled "Theory of the American State."[6] In his junior year, Schwartz studied at theInstituts d'études politiques in Paris, France, where he was awarded aCertificat d'Etudes Politiques.
After graduation, Schwartz enlisted in theUnited States Army in September 1972, where he rose to the rank of Specialist 4th Class and served on aPershing Missile base inWest Germany from January 1973 to September 1974. He was honorably discharged.[7] He received his M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business (1978); and his J.D. from Boston University (1981).
Schwartz began his financial career in private placements atFirst City National Bank of Houston in 1978. The bank, which becameFirst City Bancorporation of Texas, Inc. was the largest bank in Texas during the 1970s.[8] In 1982, he briefly worked in corporate finance atKeefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York City before going on to work forDaiwa Capital Markets, where he started their mergers and acquisitions department and was a member of the team that underwrote the firstEuroyen bond for an overseas company –Sears.[9] He then joinedBecker Paribas Inc., where he was part of the group which started Paribas Merchant Banking Group in 1985.
In September 1986, Schwartz founded his own boutique financial advisory firm, Ulmer Brothers, Inc., specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. While at Ulmer Brothers, Schwartz advised on the first IPO of a Japanese subsidiary of a U.S. company in 1989. The firm also published several newsletters and journals, which captured Schwartz's interest. He soon shifted his career path to financial publishing.
In 1993, Schwartz purchased theAsian Venture Capital Journal (AVCJ) in Hong Kong. AVCJ became a leading source of information on Asian private equity and venture capital, and itsAVCJ Forum became the top private equity and venture capital event in Asia.[10] AVCJ also became the first company to distribute the digital edition of a print publication in 1998. The company was purchased by British publishing companyIncisive Media in 2006. AVCJ was subsequently sold toBC Partners-ownedMergermarket Group in 2015.[11][12] Schwartz relinquished his title of chairman Emeritus of AVCJ in 2008.[13]
In 1998, Schwartz founded Qiosk.com, an online news aggregator and distributor, which became one of the early pioneers of delivering print publications via the internet. He is still a majority shareholder in the company today.[14]
Schwartz entered a competitive race forUnited States House of Representatives inNevada's newly created4th congressional district.[14] He finished behind currentNevada Secretary of StateBarbara Cegavske and the eventual nomineeDanny Tarkanian.[15]
Schwartz told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a 2013 interview that he supported a "path to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants who had established themselves in the United States, but more importantly, called out the need for an immigration bill.[16]
From 2012 to 2014, Schwartz served as Finance Chair for theNevada Republican Party.[14]
On September 18, 2013, Schwartz announced his candidacy forNevada State Treasurer at a meeting of the Clark County Republican Party Central Committee inLas Vegas, Nevada. His campaign was largely focused on improving returns on the State's funds while protecting and expanding college scholarship and savings programs.[14]
During the 78th session of theNevada Legislature, Schwartz was the first to publicly question Nevada GovernorBrian Sandoval's proposed $7.3 billion budget, which contained $1.1 billion in tax increases.[17] Schwartz outlined his concerns in a three-page memo to the Senate Finance Committee, which among other issues, challenged the State's ability to implement the tax hikes at one time.[18]
Nevada's ESA bill was passed in the 2015 legislature, to be administered by the Nevada Treasurer's office, and is called the first universal ESA program in the nation.[19] The program seeks to improve Nevada's ranking among the 50 states.[20]
After Schwartz's office adopted and published regulations, two court cases were filed against the ESA program. The first lawsuit, by the ACLU (Duncan v. Nevada), was filed in Las Vegas and argued that the program was not constitutional. They claimed the program violated Nevada'sBlaine Amendment, which states: "no public funds of any kind or character whatever, State, county or Municipal, shall be used for a sectarian purpose."[21] District Court Judge Eric Johnson dismissed the case in May 2016, ruling the program to be "neutral with respect to religion."[22]
The second lawsuit, by Educate Nevada Now and promoted by The Rogers Foundation (Lopez v. Schwartz), was filed inCarson City, Nevada. This case challenged a different constitutional provision. District Court Judge James Wilson placed a temporary injunction on the program in January 2016 stating that public school dollars would go toward private schools, preventing full implementation.[23]
The losing side in each case appealed the decision, and theNevada Supreme Court heard both cases on the same day in July 2016. The Court upheld the lower decision inDuncan v. Nevada, ruling that the program was constitutional, and also upheld the lower decision inLopez v. Schwartz, finding that the funding mechanism was defective.[24]
Treasurer Schwartz urged Governor Sandoval to take up the ESA funding issue in an October 2016 Special Session of the Nevada Legislature designed to approve funding for anNFL stadium, so that the program could continue for the 10,000 families who had already signed up for the program.[25]
Schwartz repeatedly called into question the viability of a $1 billionFaraday Future electric vehicle plant inNorth Las Vegas, Nevada, afterLeEco, the internet company belonging to the billionaire Chinese entrepreneur behind Faraday Future,Jia Yueting, suspended trading in his public company,Leshi, in December 2015.[26] It was during that same month that theNevada Legislature approved $335 million in incentives to lure Faraday to the state.[27]
In mid-November 2016, Faraday Future announced that it had suspended construction on the plant.[28] In December 2016, Leshi again suspended trading in its shares due to a cash crunch and rumored margin calls on borrowings by Jia Yueting.[29] In September 2018, Faraday announced that the company was formally withdrawing from the project.
On September 5, 2017, Schwartz announced that he intended to seek the Republican nomination forgovernor of Nevada[30] He later endorsed state attorney generalAdam Laxalt who then lost toSteve Sisolak.[31]
Schwartz also pursued other objectives at the treasurer's office. He has reduced the number of process days from 120 to same-day processing for unclaimed property claims, combined and strengthened thecollege savings program, refunded the State's debt to produce $80 million in annual savings, has authored bills to curb the abuses ofpayday loans, and suggested a major overhaul of the State's tax system.[32][33][34]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dan Schwartz | 277,613 | 51.46 | +7.66 | |
| Democratic | Kim Wallin | 223,793 | 41.49 | −6.81 | |
| Independent American | Kress Cave | 19,355 | 3.59 | −0.41 | |
| None of These Candidates | None of These Candidates | 18,686 | 3.46 | −0.34 | |
| Total votes | 539,447 | 100 | |||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | Swing | +14.46 | |||
In the summer of 2015, Schwartz hiredNevada Republican Party Chair Michael McDonald to serve as a senior deputy treasurer despite McDonald's embroilment in a civil lawsuit.[35] A restructuring of department staff resulted in McDonald's resignation in October 2015.[36] The lawsuit was settled privately.
Schwartz also challengedNevada Lieutenant GovernorMark Hutchison when Hutchison filed his own lawsuit in defense of Nevada's Education Savings Account program. Schwartz joined theNevada Attorney General's office in arguing that the private suit could jeopardize the legal proceedings already underway, which included lawsuits filed by theAmerican Civil Liberties Union and a group of parents. Nevada's Attorney General,Adam Laxalt, had already hired formerU.S. Solicitor GeneralPaul Clement to defend the state against those lawsuits.[37] Hutchison dropped the suit, but not before Schwartz suggested he should resign if he did not.[38]
Schwartz and his wife Yanan were married on September 9, 2011. Resident in Beijing, Yanan headed theSino-Italian Cooperation Program for Environmental Protection in Beijing. She is fluent in Mandarin and Italian. She became a U.S. citizen in March 2016.[39] He has two daughters, Allison and Dana, from his first marriage.
Schwartz, Dan (2010).The Future of Finance: How Private Equity and Venture Capital Will Shape the Global Economy. New York: John Wiley.ISBN 978-0470825112.
Schwartz, Dan (2012).Principles of the American Republic. Burlingame: Sturdy Oak Publishing.ISBN 978-0615388434.
In addition to publishing theAsian Venture Capital Journal (1993–2008), Schwartz also publishedPolicy Today (2004–2008).
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Treasurer of Nevada 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |