Rags to Riches: Chris Gardner (Part I)

Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is a self-made millionaire,  entrepreneur,  motivational speaker and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness  while raising his toddler son, Christopher, Jr.  Gardner’s book of memoirs was published in May 2006 by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

As of 2006, he is CEO of his own stockbrokerage firm,  Gardner Rich & Co, based in Chicago, Illnois  where he resides when he is not living in New York City. Gardner credits his tenacity and success to his “spiritual genetics” handed down to him by his mother, Bettye Jean Triplett, née Gardner,and to the high expectations placed on him by his children, Chris Jr. (born 1981) and his daughter, Jacintha (born 1985). Gardner’s personal struggle of establishing himself as a stockbroker while managing fatherhood and homelessness is portrayed in the 2006 motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness, starring actor Will Smith. 

Part II of Rags to Riches would be coming soon.