David L. Steward is an American businessman, the self-made billionaire founder and Chairman of World Wide Technology (WWT), a dominant IT solutions and supply chain services provider. His background is one of humility, resilience, and breaking racial barriers: born in Chicago, he moved to the small rural town of Clinton, Missouri, where he grew up.

Steward graduated from Central Missouri State University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management. After college, he moved to St. Louis, where he became the first person of color ever hired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad to sell rail services. This experience in sales, logistics, and overcoming racial prejudice provided him with the crucial operational knowledge and determination to launch his own technology firm.

David Steward began his entrepreneurial journey by creating two smaller successful startup companies, providing him with the capital and expertise for his major venture. In 1990, he founded World Wide Technology (WWT) with just a handful of employees and a 4,000 square foot office. His strategic vision was to build a market-leading systems integrator and supply chain solutions provider for the commercial, government, and telecom sectors.

Under his leadership, WWT scaled exponentially, achieving over $13 billion in annual revenue and operating in 4 million square feet of warehousing and distribution space globally. WWT became renowned for its strong cultural values (collaboration, integrity) and its advanced technology solutions (cloud, data center, cybersecurity). WWT is recognized as the largest Black-owned company in the United States, a massive civic and business achievement that secured Steward's multi-billion dollar fortune and his legacy as a titan of the U.S. IT supply chain.

David Steward's social impact is massive and structural, stemming from WWT's role as a major employer and a foundational technology provider. His company's commitment to diversity and strong cultural values has made it an exemplar of corporate responsibility.

His personal philanthropy, channeled through his foundation, supports education, youth empowerment, and entrepreneurship initiatives, reflecting his own path as a pioneer. His career, starting as the first person of color hired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad to sell rail services, provides immense inspiration and a lasting contribution to business diversity.

David Steward maintains the highly professional, disciplined style of a successful American executive. His attire is consistently formal and high-quality, favoring tailored business suits. His aesthetic is one of stability and quiet, yet immense, authority, befitting the leader of the largest Black-owned company in the U.S.

His luxury is the profound security and financial reward derived from his multi-billion dollar fortune. His life is dedicated to leveraging technology, logistics, and strong cultural values to build and sustain a massive, market-leading enterprise.