Steven Sarowitz

Early Life

Born around 1965 or 1966, Steven Sarowitz grew up in Homewood, Illinois. His father was an engineer and his mother was a psychologist. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with a degree in Economics in 1987.

Rise to Success

Sarowitz's entrepreneurial journey began in the payroll industry. After gaining experience in the field, he founded Paylocity in 1997. His vision was to provide a software solution with the service and liability protection of an outsourcing solution. This led to the first release of Paylocity's award-winning SAAS platform in 2002. Paylocity's IPO in March 2014 established his family's wealth. As of April 2019, Sarowitz held 28% of Paylocity's stock.

Key Business Strategies

Sarowitz's key business strategy revolved around developing proprietary technology to streamline payroll and human capital management for businesses. He focused on providing efficient, in-house-like processing. His leadership led Paylocity to achieve significant milestones, including its initial public offering (IPO) in March 2014.

Philanthropy

Sarowitz and his wife, Jessica, have established the Julian Grace Foundation, which aims to give away at least $1 billion during their lifetimes. They also support other spiritual initiatives. Sarowitz has contributed nearly $250 million to his family foundation Julian Grace and spiritually-inspired foundation Wayfarer.