Adlai Stevenson IV

Who is Adlai Stevenson IV?

Adlai Ewing Stevenson IV is a business executive and a former television and print journalist.

Stevenson was a television reporter at WTNH, New Haven, WMBD, Peoria, KARE, Minneapolis and WMAQ, Chicago and media analyst for a newspaper chain.

Stevenson was an acquisition specialist for media companies Lee Enterprises and Schurz Communications, and served as vice president and chief operations officer at the Evanston-based start-up Stonewater Control Systems. In 1990, Stevenson created radio station WHZT-FM in Champaign, Illinois. He is currently Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions at HuaMei Capital, the first U.S.-Chinese financial services joint venture.

Stevenson earned an MBA, a master’s degree in journalism, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Northwestern University. He is the son of former Senator Adlai Stevenson III, grandson of former presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson II, and great-great grandson of former Vice President, Adlai E. Stevenson I. Stevenson II was born in Los Angeles and raised in Bloomington, Illinois.

The Pantagraph, a Bloomington newspaper, reported that Stevenson was ambivalent about passing on his famous name. "When my own kid was about to be born... the big debate began - were we going to continue this name thing? I was basically against it, needless to say fully aware of how being named Adlai E. Stevenson can be a Boy-Named-Sue-like albatross. But my dad and my wife felt strongly this was something we should do." His son, Adlai Ewing Stevenson V, was born in the fall of 1994.