Finance/Insurance: FREDRICK D. ‘FRED’ SCHAUFELD

After graduating from Lehigh University in 1981, Schaufeld took a job selling extended warranties to auto dealers. When he learned his employer hadn’t actually taken out policies on all his clients, Schaufeld went into business for himself, working directly with the insurance company and dealers.

That adventure led to Schaufeld launching N.E.W. Customer Services Companies Inc., which issued warranties for consumer products and later merged with Asurion Corp., a phone warranty company. 

Schaufeld went on to co-found investment firm SWaN & Legend, which has purchased stakes in businesses like healthy snack maker Kind LLC and Custom Ink T-shirts. He’s a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

In 2007, Schaufeld and his wife, Karen, purchased the dilapidated but historic Hill Top House in Harpers Ferry, which once hosted notables like Mark Twain and W.E.B. Du Bois. Their plans to rebuild the property caused years of uproar in the town until 2020 when West Virginia passed a law overriding land-use regulations in the small town.

Fred Schaufeld said in June that the $150 million renovation could be completed by 2024.