Brad Gerstner, a Hoosier native and venture capitalist, received a standing ovation in February during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The former Indiana lawyer and deputy secretary of state helped spearhead the creation of Trump Accounts, which launched in July and provide $1,000 to kids born between 2025 and 2028 to invest in the stock market.
Gerstner has pledged up to $100 million to provide $250 to every child younger than age 5 living in Indiana with an account.
“A very tremendous guy,” Trump said during the address. “He was behind it right from the beginning.”
The 55-year-old Wabash College and Indiana University graduate was the master architect of the concept that could become the most transformative government program since Social Security, according to Sue Anne Gilroy, who hired Gerstner when she served as Indiana Secretary of State from 1994 to 2002.
“They should be called Gerstner accounts,” she said. “He did this himself. He didn’t have lobbyists. He didn’t hire people … And he happened to have a president who got the concept immediately and understood it.”
Who is Brad Gerstner?
The investment accounts launched in July, but the idea for them stems back to Gerstner’s time growing up in Syracuse, Indiana, with three siblings and a public school education.
He’s talked about how his family didn’t have much money. His parents divorced when he was young. His dad owned a small business making auto parts that eventually went bankrupt during the economic recession of the 1980s.
“I watched my family and community struggle as Indiana’s automotive economy declined,” he said in an email to FPI News. “During that time, I also witnessed firsthand how even a modest investment, given time to compound, could alter the trajectory of a person’s life.”
Gerstner gained his first business experience in high school working for the founder of an RV company in Elkhart that the owner eventually sold to Warren Buffett.
After high school, he received the prestigious Lilly Scholarship, which provided a full ride to Wabash College. He graduated top of his class with a degree in economics and political science.
Wabash College President Scott Feller said he’s spoken with Gerstner’s fellow classmates over the years and they told him repeatedly that Gerstner was “always the smartest guy in the room.”
“We’ve had a number of Wabash graduates who made a mark … and I think Brad is certainly in excellent company in terms of making a difference in the world,” Feller said.
Gerstner went on to get a law degree from Indiana University, and after graduation worked briefly at Ice Miller, a national law firm based in Indianapolis.
A stint in state government
While in college, Gerstner periodically worked for U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. A few years later, Lugar reached out and asked if he’d be interested in a job as deputy secretary of state.
Gerstner accepted the position and worked under Gilroy, who was secretary of state at the time. For around three years in the mid-90s, he spearheaded an overhaul of the department’s business division, according to Gilroy.
She said when Gerstner came on board, the office was more than 20 days behind opening mail from businesses and law firms. Gerstner formed a committee and worked to streamline and digitize the process, which eventually led to same-day service for customers.
“He energized the staff,” Gilroy said. “He made everybody think differently. I don’t think I ever could have accomplished what I did in my little space in state government if he hadn’t been alongside me.”
Gerstner left his state position around 1999 and started his business career by co-founding an online travel company that Expedia bought in 2001.
He later founded two companies acquired by Google and Marchex, an AI-fueled conversational analytics group. In 2008, he founded his current company, Altimeter Capital. The company manages $20 billion of assets invested in public companies and private startups.
Today, Gerstner lives in California and is known as a savvy tech investor and early backer of AI companies. Forbes this year ranked him 21st on its “Midas List” of best venture capitalists.
‘He never quits’
Gerstner first announced his vision for investment accounts for every U.S. child in 2020 and founded nonprofit Invest America in 2023 to make the vision a reality.
That happened this year with the creation of Trump Accounts, which were established as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill and mark the first federal child savings accounts in U.S. history.
Parents, nonprofits and private companies can all contribute to kids’ accounts. When they turn 18, account holders can access the money for college, ongoing education or to buy a house. They can also let the investment grow until retirement.
Gerstner, through Invest America, lobbies private companies to also invest in the accounts to help generate more wealth for children.
The largest pledge so far has come from Michael and Susan Dell, who are contributing $250 to Trump Accounts for 25 million children, totaling $6.25 billion.
Gilroy said it’s no surprise Gerstner succeeded in creating these accounts, which she believes will become one of the most impactful government programs since Social Security. He always thought big, worked hard and let his passion guide him, she said.
“It’s just a brilliant way to invest in our country and in our democracy and one significant way to shrink the wealth gap,” she said.
It’s the kind of shoot-for-the-moon idea that only Gerstner could pull off, she said.
But Gerstner said it’s something only his upbringing in Indiana could have inspired.
“We are all byproducts of where and how we grew up,” he said. “My commitment to contribute $250 to Trump Accounts for qualifying children across Indiana is deeply personal.”
“The principle is simple: expand ownership, opportunity and belief in the American dream for every child.”
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FPI News reporter Carson Gerber covers pressing issues throughout the state and how local communities are tackling those challenges. Reach him at 756-204-4250 or carson.gerber@fpinews.org.
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