By the time he reached age 60, Gene Stein had had a successful 34 years at the Capital Group, his only employer since business school in Cambridge, MA. But, up to that point, he hadn’t earned a nickname. Sure, he had been Chair of the US Equity Investment Committee, Chair of the North American Management Committee, and Vice Chair of the Capital Group Board of Directors, but the team he was dining with at a business dinner in Silicon Valley didn’t know much about his background. He was the new guy in this younger group. 

When the young bucks started challenging each other to push-up contests, the older members of the crowd started taking bets. Gene was conspicuously quiet. The instigator of the contest had just pushed out 59 when one of his wagering colleagues challenged Gene: $10 for every push-up beyond the current mark. Gene must have been smiling, because what else could have made the challenger think that this mild-mannered, understated finance guy could push out 60 push-ups? Gene took his position, started slowly, methodically cranked out 60 push-ups and then stopped, looking like he could keep going indefinitely, and collected his $10. His new nickname was established: “the push-up guy.” 

Way back when he would have only been a “push-up kid,” Gene grew up in L.A., where his parents owned a liquor store and food market along the lines of a Trader Joe’s. As a teen, he spent three summers working the cash register during the night shift, crossing paths with multitudes of interesting people. After his engineering degree at UCLA, Gene went straight to HBS, where he quickly developed an interest in finance. He was a natural, and he fostered his fondness for finance with an internship on Wall Street. 

During the Vietnam War, being in the ROTC meant that you could pick your branch of the military. Gene chose the U.S. Public Health Service, the branch headed up by the Surgeon General. During those two years in Washington D.C. he met Mindy, with whom he has just recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. After his two year stint at the PHS, Gene went back to finance where he found the last company he would work for: Capital Group.

Gene started as a financial analyst and became a portfolio manager in several of the American Funds mutual funds. If you charted his progress, you’d see a zig-zag up the pyramid: up and over, up and up and over, up some more. Eventually he filled a number of leadership roles, and it was very financially rewarding, but more than that, it was an organization full of smart people working hard and being nice to each other. Great leadership has an impact, which Gene observed in the many companies he covered during his career, but he also observed it firsthand in Capital Group. Long careers aren’t unusual there, and for a good number of employees, Capital Group is both their first and last job. For many like Gene, it was their last job. 

That experience obviously affected Gene’s investing philosophy with the Pasadena Angels. Gene looks for leadership that demonstrates competence and integrity. 

Gene has long had a love for music and for the human voice. One of his loves is opera. He and Mindy underwrite the Los Angeles Opera’s Young Artist Program, which gives talented young performers voice, acting, language and career training, and it provides them with performance opportunities. But Gene’s love of music inspired him to go a step further, and seven years ago he decided to take up the cello. Gene takes regular lessons and even goes to cello camp in the summer with kids from all over the country. The first time he went to cello camp he was grouped with the other beginners - the six and seven year-old kids - who proceeded to learn faster and play better. For a man with a lifetime of achievements and the nickname “the push-up guy,” it was a bit humbling. 

Gene’s most important endeavor right now is his focus on early childhood development. He and Mindy have been making grants and funding programs to help children for over 20 years. Babies are born with only about 25% of their brains formed, but by the time they reach age 3, they have developed 75-80% of their cerebral structure, which is why it’s so critical for them to have good stimulation, nutrition, play and attention. By some estimates, a quarter of the world’s population doesn’t get enough during those critical years, which is why Gene and Mindy fund more than 35 grantees and employ two part-time staff on efforts to improve childhood development. 

And Gene’s personally involved in early childhood development with his own grandkids. Gene and Mindy’s three children are raising their own families in San Francisco and Princeton NJ, where his eight grandchildren see their grandparents regularly on Zoom, in person and on beaches like the one below.