Barry K. Schwartz (born May 25, 1942)[1] is an American businessman, co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc., thoroughbred racehorse owner, and a former horse racing industry executive.
Schwartz's father, a grocer, was murdered when Barry was twenty-one years old.[2] Schwartz grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in The Bronx.[2] He is Jewish.[3][4] In 1968 he borrowed $10,000 to partner with childhood friend and fashion designer Calvin Klein to establish the clothing manufacturer, Calvin Klein Inc.[2]
A member of The Jockey Club, Barry Schwartz has been an active owner in Thoroughbred horse racing since 1978 and has raced a number of horses. In 2001, the New York Turf Writers' Association voted him that year's Alfred G. Vanderbilt Award as The Person Who Did the Most For Racing. He served as Chairman of the New York Racing Association from 2000 to 2004. Since 1979 he has owned Stonewall Farm, a 750-acre (3.0 km2) horse farm in Granite Springs, a hamlet in the Town of Somers, New York. One source says it is “roughly 740 acres” and is one of the largest privately owned properties in Westchester,[5] second in size in to the Rockefellers.[6] The estate was put on the market in March 2020 with an asking price of $100 million. In 1979, for $3.25 million, they “bought the largest swath of Stonewall, a 673-acre parcel.”[5]
^Finley, Bill (October 13, 2010). "Schwartz, NYRA's new designer CEO". ESPN. The Jewish son of a Harlem grocer, a dropout in college, where he majored in "three-cushion billiards" and a devoted horseplayer
