Muneer Satter

Early life

Satter was raised in Houston, Texas, where he grew up in a middle-class family. His first job was as a waiter at Steak 'n Shake.

Patricia Templeton, Satter’s mother, went to Berea, which was the first integrated college in the South. In the 1950s, she was a civil rights activist in the Deep South. His father, Abdus Satter, emigrated from India to the United States to attend graduate school on a scholarship at Colorado School of Mines and the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a Ph.D in petroleum engineering.

Satter attended Westchester High School. He left Texas to attend Northwestern University, where he earned a B.A. in economics. Satter is also a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Satter Investment Management

Satter started and manages Satter Investment Management (SIM), based in Chicago, Illinois whose stated objective is to help create and grow companies that will make a significant impact on the state of health care.

SIM’s known healthcare investments include:

He is a member of the Board of the Northwestern Medical Group, which has over 1,000 doctors and $1 billion revenue.

Goldman Sachs

Satter retired from Goldman Sachs in 2012, where he worked for 24 years, including 16 years as a partner.

Satter joined Goldman in 1988, moving to London in 1992 to start-up and co-head the firm’s European Merchant Banking Group. In 1997, he returned to the U.S., where he became global head of the firm’s Goldman Sachs Mezzanine Group (GSMP), raising more than $30 billion in capital. Satter is credited with growing GSMP into the largest mezzanine fund in the world. Satter was also a senior member of the Investment Committee and chairman of the Risk Committee for the Merchant Banking Division, which at the time had over $80 billion of assets under management.

The Satter Foundation

Satter is a philanthropist, who together with his wife, Kristen Hayler Hertel, has made grants of more than $41 million through their family foundation, the Satter Foundation, since its inception in 1997.

Education

Inspired by his parents, Satter became a supporter of education reform initiatives focused on improving education options, especially for students in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Chicago. Satter has donated funds for charter schools, scholarships and teacher training programs. Examples include KIPP Ascend, Perspectives Charter Schools, New Schools for Chicago, Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), Accelerate Institute, Family Focus, Beyond Sports, Pathways in Education, Invest for Kids Chicago, Teach for America, Noble Network, Chicago Community Trust and The Ounce of Prevention.

Northwestern University

The Satter Foundation has committed more than $10 million to finance scholarships to Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. The scholarships pay all tuition for a student’s first three years of medical school.

The Satter Foundation also funds Project Excite, founded at the Northwestern School of Education to close the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students at Evanston High School in Illinois. The project runs education, academic advising and personal education programs designed to improve access for minority students and help them earn admission to college.

A Northwestern alumnus, Satter serves on the school’s Board of Trustees and is chairman of its Finance Committee. Northwestern University has $12 billion in assets and an operating budget of over $2 billion per year.

Navy SEAL Foundation

Satter serves on the board of the Navy SEAL Foundation, which provides immediate and ongoing support to the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community. He started an annual fundraiser for the organization in Chicago, raising more than $2.6 million in 2014.

The Nature Conservancy

The Satter Foundation has been a consistent supporter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) including seven years as treasurer and chairman of its Finance Committee.

TNC is one of the largest environmental non-profits in the world with more than $6 billion in assets—including a $2 billion endowment and capital fund—and operations in more than 35 countries. Satter served from 2006 to 2015 on TNC's Board of Trustees, including seven years as chairman of its Finance Committee.

Satter is currently a member of the advisory board of TNC's NatureVest unit, which creates "investable deals that deliver conservation results and financial returns for investors. The objective is to raise more capital to preserve the environment." It was founded in 2014.

Room to Read

The Satter Foundation is a longtime supporter of Room to Read, which has built over 19,000 schools and libraries, distributed over 15 million books and funded over 30,000 scholarships for girls in 10 countries in the developing world. Satter served as co-chairman of Room to Read's board from 2005 to 2008.

Goldman Sachs Foundation

Satter is vice-chairman of the board of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and GS Gives. The Goldman Sachs Foundation organizes and supports 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses. 10,000 Women is a global initiative that fosters economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs in developing nations around the world with a business and management education, mentoring, networking and access to capital. 10,000 Small Businesses assists entrepreneurs in the U.S. and U.K. to create jobs and economic opportunity by providing a practical business education, a network of support and access to capital.

Politics and public affairs

Satter is a donor and fundraiser for political candidates who support economic growth and job creation. Satter is a board member for World Business Chicago, a business development non-profit founded to "create jobs, cultivate talent, and put Chicago at the forefront of the global economy." Satter is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Satter serves on the advisory board of the American Enterprise Institute.

Satter was a National Finance co-chairman for Mitt Romney’s effort in 2008 and 2012.

In 2015, Crain’s Chicago Business named Satter one of “The 20 Most Powerful Political Insiders in Illinois.”

Personal

Satter is married to Kristen Hayler Hertel, who he met while attending Northwestern University. They have 5 children.