With decades of experience in law, investing, consulting and management, Gil Schwartzberg has helped businesses in various industries to go public and generate millions in profits.
Gil Schwartzberg was always interested in the intersection of business and law. He studied management and marketing at NYU and then earned a Juris Doctorate from Valley University College of Law. He practiced for twelve years, focusing on business structure and transactions. During this period Gil also became the largest franchisee of Fatburger, overseeing the Los Angeles expansion of the popular hamburger chain.
In 1978 Gil collaborated with like-minded friends to form the Los Angeles-based Sterling Bank. In addition to being a founder, Gil Schwartzberg was on the bank’s board of directors and served for more than a dozen years as chairman of the Loan Committee, which oversaw the process of approval of the bank’s largest loans.
In the 1980s Gil Schwartzberg provided his legal services to Robert Greenberg, the founder of popular shoe company LA Gear. Gil was initially Robert’s attorney and then became a vice chairman of the company as well. The company flourished, going public in 1986 and earning the distinction of being the best performing stock on the New York Stock Exchange in 1988. In 1992 an investment group took over the company, and Gil and Robert moved on to greater success. Gil became vice chairman of Sterling Bank, and Robert founded shoe manufacturer Skechers USA.
Gil Schwartzberg joined Robert as a founding shareholder in Skechers, though not as a member of management As Skechers shoes business grew, Gil offered his expertise elsewhere in support: He licensed both Cross Colors clothing and its Karl Kani division from Skechers and then sublicensed the brands to an experienced garment manufacturer. Ultimately he decided to focus on the strengths of the Karl Kani brand, and under his tutelage it became the largest hip-hop clothing company in the world at that time, for the benefit of the Kani brand of Skechers shoes.
Gil helped oversee Skechers’ public offering in 1999 and the company’s New York Stock Exchange listing. Since that time Skechers has become an iconic household name. It has expanded to over 1,100 retail stores and became a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing company, enabling the Greenbergs to named by Forbes Magazine in 2015 as the 163rd richest family in the United States.
Over the years Gil Schwartzberg has continued his involvement with Skechers as an advisor to the CEO and trustee for various trusts established by the Greenberg family,which at various points in time have held the controlling interest in the company. In recent years his primary focus has been Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. a drug development company, as a consultant and major shareholder.