Christopher Gardner ( born Christopher Paul Gardner ; born February 9, 1954 , Milwaukee , Wisconsin ) - entrepreneur , philanthropist , motivational speaker. Gardner's success story: from a homeless single father to the owner of a successful company, has gained widespread fame in society. In 2006, Gardner's biography was filmed . The image of Gardner in the picture embodied by Will Smith. The autobiographical book “Pursuit of Happiness” has become a bestseller.
| Christopher Gardner | |
|---|---|
| Christopher gardner | |
 | |
| Birth name | Christopher paul gardner |
| Date of Birth | February 9, 1954 (aged 65) |
| Place of Birth | Milwaukee Wisconsin |
| A country | |
| Occupation | , , , , |
| Site | |
As of 2016, he served as executive director of his own brokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co , located in Chicago , Illinois . The value of the company's assets for 2016 was estimated at $ 60 million. He lives in New York [1] .
Biography
Chris Gardner was born on February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He spoke of childhood as a difficult period of his life, recalling the difficult relationship with his stepfather. Having never entered college, at the age of 17, changing his age information, Chris went to serve in the Navy in North Carolina. At the age of 20, after finishing army service, he moved to San Francisco and got a job at the San Francisco General hospital, connected with the supply of medicines and medical equipment [2] .
In 1977, Chris married Sherry Dyson, a math teacher. In January 1981, he had a son, Christopher Jarrett, but from a different romantic relationship. Their marriage to Sherry cracked, and they did not live together. In 1981, an event occurred that changed the fate of a young man. In the parking lot, Chris saw a well-dressed businessman driving a Ferrari car. They got into a conversation. After the meeting, Chris completely redefined his goals in life. The businessman’s name was Bob Bridges and he served as a broker. Chris quit his job as a medical salesman, deciding to start a career in stock trading. Bridges agreed to accept a new acquaintance at brokers' courses at EF Hutton ( 2) .
However, a few days later Bridges was fired and Chris was left without a patron. Chris himself had to survive the divorce, and he was left without a roof over his head. There was barely enough savings to pay for courses. Gardner was left without a house, without a permanent job, with a small son in his arms. The unemployed took on any opportunity to earn money by spending the night in the airport lounge and toilets of metro stations. Often he had to choose: spend money on housing or food. I had to eat in institutions for the homeless, to give my son in the afternoon to the care of a charity service at one of the churches. For about 10 months, Chris unsuccessfully looked for an employer who would agree to accept him at least as a student. Nevertheless, he stubbornly continued to search and clung to any opportunity. Due to lack of funds, Chris went to jail for 10 days for non-payment of parking fines. The child was taken by his girlfriend. The next day after his release from prison, he was to undergo an interview with Dean Witter Reynolds ( en ) [2] [1] .
Chris honestly told his story, not hiding anything in the interview and, unexpectedly, was accepted to the position of student broker. A few months later, a girl returned to him, but only in order to return her son, whom she had no opportunity to care for. Finally, he was able to rent a normal apartment and provide child care. At the new job, Chris showed high determination and efficiency and was noticed by management. In 1982, Chris successfully passed the exam on the right to work as a broker. He soon switched to a higher paying job at Bear Stearns . Chris's career has evolved. In 1987, he founded his own company, Gardner Rich & Co, in Chicago. The company provides brokerage services and investment advice.
Chris lectures as a motivational speaker. In 2002, Chris gave an interview in the program 20/20 ( en ), in which he talked about his life path. The interview became the basis for the script of the picture “Pursuit of Happyness” (“Pursuit of Happyness”, intentionally made a mistake in the word “Happyness”), which was released in 2006. The main roles in the film were played by Will Smith and his 7-year-old son Jaden Smith . In 2006, an autobiographical book of the same name was published. In 2009, Chris published his second book, “Start Where You Are”. In 2011, Gardner Rich & Co made a deal with South African entrepreneur Cyril Ramafos and his company Shanduka Group. The value of funds under an investment management contract is estimated at $ 1 billion [3] [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Dave Gordon. Chris Gardner: The homeless man who became a multi-millionaire investor . bbc (5 Dec 2016). Date of treatment February 13, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Jun 13, 2006. Cinderella man - Chicago Tribune . chicagotribune (02/13/2019). Date of treatment February 13, 2019.
- ↑ Emmanuel Levy. Pursuit of Happyness . emanuellevy (02/13/2019). Date of treatment February 13, 2019.
- ↑ Marianne Costantinou. Chris Gardner has pursued happiness, from the Glide soup kitchen to the big screen . San Francisco Chronicle (Oct 10, 2005). Date of treatment February 13, 2019.