Ian Schrager Net Worth

What is Ian Schrager's Net Worth?

Ian Schrager is an entrepreneur, real estate developer, and hotelier who has a net worth of $250 million. Ian Schrager rose to infamy in the late 1970s for co-founding and co-owning the Manhattan nightclub Studio 54, with his business partner Steve Rubell. He and Rubell went on to enter the hotel business, introducing the concept of boutique hotels with the opening of their Morgans Hotel on Madison Avenue in 1984. Schrager later launched the Ian Schrager Company, which owns, develops, and manages hotels and residences.

Early Life and Education

Ian Schrager was born on July 19, 1946 in New York City to Jewish parents Blanche and Louis. His father owned a women's coat factory in Long Branch, New Jersey and was an associate of mobster Meyer Lansky. For his higher education, Schrager went to Syracuse University, from which he earned his BA in 1968. He went on to obtain his JD from St. John's University School of Law in 1971.

Career Beginnings

With his former Syracuse fraternity brother Steve Rubell, as well as Jon Addison, Schrager purchased 15 Landsdowne Street in Boston in the early 1970s. They turned it into a discotheque. Meanwhile, Schrager practiced law for three years. In late 1975, Schrager and Rubell opened a disco in Queens called Enchanted Garden.

Studio 54

In 1977, Schrager and Rubell opened the nightclub Studio 54 in Manhattan. Originally opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, the space later became a CBS broadcast studio. Schrager and Rubell retained much of the existing design and theatrical infrastructure while playing around with the lighting. Studio 54 quickly became known for its long celebrity guest lists, arcane entry policies, and rampant debauchery. In late 1978, the club was raided after Rubell boasted that its income was greater than that of the Mafia. The following year, he and Schrager were charged with tax evasion, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy, having allegedly skimmed close to $2.5 million in unreported income from Studio 54's receipts. This was followed by a second raid at the end of 1979. In early 1980, Schrager and Rubell were sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, and later that year Studio 54 was sold. After a little less than a year behind bars, Schrager and Rubell were released to a halfway house for the rest of their sentence.

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Palladium

In 1985, Schrager and Rubell embarked on their next business venture, which was converting the Manhattan concert hall and former movie theater the Palladium into a nightclub. The duo enlisted venerated Japanese architect Arata Isozaki to transform the building while retaining its spatial integrity. Collaborating with a number of other famed artists, Schrager, Rubell, and Isozaki turned the Palladium into a dynamic space featuring large video installations incorporated into the architecture.

Hotels and Residences

Beyond their nightclubs, Schrager and Rubell made a name for themselves as hoteliers. They opened their first hotel, Morgans Hotel, on Madison Avenue in Manhattan in 1984. Named after the Morgan Library & Museum next door, the hotel was an immediate success, inaugurating the concept of the boutique hotel. Schrager and Rubell went on to open the Paramount Hotel in 1986 and the Royalton Hotel in 1988, both Manhattan locations designed by Philippe Starck. These properties featured large lobbies that encouraged both guests and residents alike to socialize there. In 1989, Rubell died from complications of HIV/AIDS, leaving his partner on his own. Schrager elected to stay in the hotel business, and he went on to create the concept of the urban resort with the Delano Hotel in Miami and the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood. Back in New York, he opened the Hudson Hotel, which furthered his goal of making the hotel guest experience into a kind of lifestyle. Schrager subsequently expanded his operations to such cities as San Francisco and London, still partnering with designer Philippe Starck.

In 2005, Schrager sold the majority of his stake in Morgans Hotel Group and stepped down as chair and CEO of the company. Not long after that, he established the Ian Schrager Company, which owns, develops, and manages both hotels and residences. Among its early projects was a transformation of Gramercy Park Hotel in collaboration with artist Julian Schnabel. Schrager also built the residential properties 40 Bond and 50 Gramercy Park North. In his first new project as an independent hotelier, he launched the "cheap chic" hotel brand Public, with its first location opening in Chicago in 2011. Six years later, Schrager opened Public Hotel New York in the Bowery district. His other major hotel brand is EDITION, which he created in partnership with Marriott International. In addition to its locations in the United States, EDITION has hotels in such cities as London, Barcelona, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Shanghai.

Personal Life

On Valentine's Day in 1994, Schrager married Cuban ballet dancer Rita Noroña. They had two daughters together, and eventually divorced. Schrager wed his second wife, former New York City Ballet ballerina Tania Wahlstedt, in 2008. Together, they have a son, and Wahlstedt has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Real Estate

In 2021, Schrager listed his full-floor, 3,800-square-foot apartment at 176 Perry Street for $9.95 million. Designed by Richard Meier, the residence features floor-to-ceiling windows and a private terrace with Hudson River views. In 2017, Schrager purchased a 2,600-square-foot loft at 31 Washington Street in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood for $4.26 million. The three-bedroom condo, located in a converted ironworks factory, boasts 13-foot ceilings and exposed wood beams. In 2024, he listed this property for $4.3 million.

Schrager and his wife, Tania, acquired a two-bedroom penthouse at the Edition Miami Beach for $5.5 million in 2016. In 2024, they sold the unit for $7 million. The penthouse includes a 1,000-square-foot rooftop terrace with an outdoor kitchen and Jacuzzi.

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