Thomas George Stemberg (January 18, 1949 – October 23, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a pioneer of the office supplies superstore industry, most notably for founding office supply retail chain Staples Inc. with Leo Kahn.

Early life and education

Stemberg was born on January 18, 1949, in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...

,The Guru Guide to Entrepreneurship: A Concise Guide to the Best Ideas from ... - Joseph H. Boyett, Jimmie T. Boyett – Google Books
the son of immigrants from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, Erika (née Ratzer) and Oscar Michael Stemberg. His father was a lawyer who became a restaurateur. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic. At Harvard College, he headed on managerial roles at Harvard Student Agencies, a hands-on organization of campus businesses, and the Harvard Independent, a newly established student newspaper. In 1973, Stemberg graduated from the Harvard Business School receiving his M.B.A. as a George F. Baker Scholar.

Career

He started his career with the Jewel Company's Star Markets where he became the vice president for the company's sales and merchandising division. In 1986, Stemberg started Staples with backing from private equity firms, including Hambro International Ventures, Harvard Management, Bessemer Ventures, Adler & Company, and

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

; Bain co-founder

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

served on the company's board of directors for the next 15 years. By 1999, Staples had worldwide sales of over US$7 billion, with more than one thousand superstores, mail order catalogs, e-commerce outlets, and a contract business. In 2005, Stemberg joined

Highland Capital Partners Highland Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco. Highland has raised over $4 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 280 companies, with 47 IPOs and 134 acqui ...

, a

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm, in

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...

, as managing general partner. Stemberg had an estimated net worth of $202 million, he was a philanthropist who donated funds in areas pertaining to education. Stemberg, a political supporter of Mitt Romney since Romney ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994, spoke on Romney's behalf at the

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the Republican Party (United States), U.S. Republican Party during which Delegate (American politics), delegates officially nominated former Governor of Massachusetts, Massachuset ...

. Stemberg encouraged Romney to make healthcare more accessible, which led Romney to reform healthcare in the commonwealth.

Personal life

In 2012, Stemberg was involved in a legal dispute with his first wife, Maureen Sullivan. Stemberg died on October 23, 2015, from gastric cancer. He was 66 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stemberg, Thomas G. 1949 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American company founders American grocers American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American retail chief executives Businesspeople from Massachusetts Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Deaths from stomach cancer in the United States Harvard University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Massachusetts Republicans People from Orange, New Jersey Private equity and venture capital investors American retail company founders Staples Inc. people