Chris Gardner

Chris Gardner
Chris Gardner in August 2007
Born	Christopher Paul Gardner (1954-02-09) February 9, 1954 (age 62) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Founder & CEO of Gardner Rich & Co

Christopher Paul "Chris" Gardner (born February 9, 1954) is an American businessman, investor, , motivational speaker, author, and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son, Christopher Gardner, Jr. Gardner's book of memoirs, The Pursuit of Happyness, was published in May 2006. The 2006 motion picture The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith is based on the book. He was CEO of his own stockbrokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co, which he founded in 1987, based in Chicago, Illinois until he sold his share in 2006 to found Christopher Gardner International Holdings. Then in 2012, just before his wife's death, she challenged him to find true happiness and fulfillment in the remainder of his life. He now travels all over the world 200 days a year as a motivational speaker. Gardner has spoken in over 50 countries.

Gardner credits his tenacity and success to the "spiritual genetics" handed down to him by his mother, Bettye Jean Triplett, née Gardner, and to the high expectations placed on him by his children, son Chris Jr. (born 1981) and daughter Jacintha (born 1985).

Gardner was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 9, 1954, to Thomas Turner and Bettye Jean Gardner. He was both the second child and the only boy born to Bettye Jean. His older half-sister, Ophelia, is from a previous union. His younger sisters, Sharon and Kimberly, are children from his mother's marriage to Freddie Triplett.

Gardner did not have many positive male role models as a child, as his father was living in Louisiana during his birth, and his stepfather was physically abusive to both his mother and his sisters. Triplett's fits of rage made both Gardner and his sisters constantly afraid. In one incident, Bettye Jean was falsely imprisoned when Triplett reported her to the authorities for welfare fraud; the children were placed in foster care. When Gardner was eight years old, he and his sisters returned to foster care for the second time when their mother, unbeknownst to them, was convicted of trying to kill Triplett by burning down the house while he was inside.