California State University, Dominguez Hills
Douglas K. Le Bon was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, but grew up in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. He attended Los Angeles Harbor College before enrolling at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1976 and his MBA three years later. After graduation, he joined Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin as a valuation consultant and was on track to become a partner.
Instead, Mr. Le Bon decided to capitalize on his experience to become vice president and principal at Wilshire Associates, where he co-founded the Special Investments Division. It was with Wilshire that he came to prominence at the forefront of leveraged buyouts, a new investment strategy that fueled investment markets throughout the 1980s.
In 1991, Mr. Le Bon and three partners founded Pathway Capital Management, a private market investment firm. Over the last two decades, they have turned a small temporary office in Century City into a global company that manages more than $90 billion in assets and employs 190 people worldwide. As cofounder of one of the world's most successful private market investment firms and a pioneer in the field of leveraged buyouts, his business acumen is matched only by his determination to help others succeed through investments in education, community service and environmental conservancy. In his ascendance to the very top of his field, Mr. Le Bon has remained committed to helping others succeed.
He spent nearly a decade serving as vice chair and chair of the Finance Committee of the Boy Scouts of America in Los Angeles. He also serves on the board, including as vice chair, of the Crystal Cove Conservancy. Among its many services to protect the natural environment of the Crystal Cove State Park, the conservancy provides funding and facilities to support STEM education programs for K-12 students, many from low-income communities across California. The conservancy makes it possible for about 7,000 students each year to visit the state park.
In 2021, he donated $700,000 to CSU Dominguez Hills. Nearly $500,000 was earmarked to establish the Le Bon Family Scholarship, which supports the Presidential Scholars program, the Pay It Forward initiative and the general scholarship fund. The remaining gift was provided to the Innovation and Instruction building at the university for new technology acquisitions, including Bloomberg terminals for the Investment Lab.
In recognition for his distinguished career as an investment manager, his dedication to community and environmental service and his generous support for the students and faculty of the university, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills are proud to confer upon Douglas K. Le Bon the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.