Distinguished Speaker Series Breakfast and AGM

Date: 4/27/2010
Join the BABC LA Tuesday, April 27th for our Annual General Meeting, followed by a very special Distinguished Speaker Series Breakfast with Los Angeles' first Economy Chief, Austin Beutner.

  • 7:15 am - Registration and Networking
  • 7:30 am - Breakfast
  • 7:50 am - Annual General Meeting
  • 8:00 am - Remarks and Q&A with Austin Beutner
Lawry's The Prime Rib
100 North La Cienega Boulevard • Beverly Hills CA 90211

$45 Members • $55 Non-Members

As First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for Economic and Business Policy, Austin Beutner brings a unique combination of experience in the private sector of leading successful companies and in the public sector of spearheading economic development efforts.

Beutner’s role at City Hall will be to develop and execute strategies to create new jobs, attract new industry sectors, grow current businesses, cut red tape and generally change the business culture of Los Angeles to one where business growth and job creation is more actively encouraged and fostered.

Beutner began his career in the private sector in 1982 working for Smith Barney’s Mergers and Acquisitions group. In 1986, he helped establish Smith Barney's Merchant Banking Group.

In 1989 at the age of 29, Beutner became the youngest partner ever at The Blackstone Group, one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms. During Beutner’s tenure at Blackstone, he oversaw successful investments in Mexico and other countries, and advised Sony, PepsiCo and other leading businesses around the world.

Beutner transitioned into the public sector working at the United States Department of State in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. From 1994-1996, he led a team which helped the struggling Russian government and people in their transition to a market economy. He oversaw the development of mortgage and business lending vehicles, led privatization strategies, and implemented redeployment of military technologies. He also created and ran a fund within Russia to invest in small to medium-sized businesses and create jobs.

In 1996, Beutner co-founded the investment banking firm Evercore Partners with former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman. As President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Beutner helped build Evercore into a leading firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, London, Mexico City and Monterrey. Evercore provides advisory services to clients on significant mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and other strategic corporate transactions.

At Evercore, Beutner led the creation of a world-class financial services firm. Among many other activities, Evercore has been involved in many landmark transactions including advising General Motors on their bankruptcy and ATT on their consolidation of the telecommunication industry. Evercore also manages money for sophisticated institutional investors around the world in public equity, fixed income and private equity. Evercore’s investments have included controlling stakes in the electric transmission grid for the state of Michigan, the largest cable TV operator in Belguim, an oil company operating on the Gulf of Mexico and a tractor tire company in India.

Beutner was born in New York and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His mother is a retired schoolteacher and his father is a retired manufacturing engineer. He attended Dartmouth College where earned a degree in Economics in 1982. Beutner and his wife Virginia have lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years. They have four children.

Beutner currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the California Institute of the Arts; Chairman of the Board for The Broad Stage in Santa Monica; Co-Chairman of the Community Arts Program; and Chairman of the Board of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He is also Founder and Chairman of the Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation. He is a board member of Carlthorp School, and is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.