How Stephen built the fortune
Bisciotti's money comes from a business most people never notice: supplying temporary and contract workers to companies. In 1983, a year after finishing college, he and his cousin Jim Davis started Aerotek in a small office in the Baltimore area. The firm began by placing engineers and technical staff with aerospace and defense contractors, a market with steady demand and few dominant players at the time. The two founders reinvested profits, opened branch offices across the country and gradually moved into information technology, scientific and professional recruiting.
Over the following decades the company grew into Allegis Group, a privately held staffing and talent services organization headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. Because it never sold shares to the public, the founders kept control of the business and of the cash it generated. That private ownership is the base of Bisciotti's wealth, and it is also why outside estimates of its value rely on revenue figures and comparisons rather than a market price.
The second pillar is professional football. In 2000 Bisciotti agreed to buy a minority stake in the Baltimore Ravens from Art Modell, with an option to acquire control later. He exercised that option in 2004 and became majority owner. NFL franchises have risen sharply in value over the past two decades, driven by national television contracts, so the team has become a large asset in its own right.
Staffing is a business with thin margins on each placement but very large volumes, and the companies that scale it well tend to benefit from long relationships with corporate clients. Allegis built such relationships with manufacturers, technology firms, banks and government contractors, which helped it ride out several economic downturns that hurt smaller rivals.
Companies and holdings
His main interests are:
- Allegis Group, the staffing company he co-founded, whose brands include Aerotek, TEKsystems, Aston Carter and the legal recruiter Major, Lindsey and Africa
- Baltimore Ravens, the NFL team he has controlled since 2004, which plays at M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore
Bisciotti has generally left daily operations at Allegis to the management team and to his co-founder, while remaining a significant owner. At the Ravens he is known for a stable front office, keeping the same head coach for long stretches and giving his general managers wide authority.
Early life and career
Stephen J. Bisciotti was born in 1960 in Philadelphia and grew up in Severna Park, Maryland, south of Baltimore. His father died of leukemia when Stephen was a young boy, and his mother raised the family on her own. He went on to Salisbury State College, now Salisbury University, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, and graduated in 1982 with a degree in liberal arts.
He briefly worked in technical staffing for another firm before deciding, at 23, that he could run such a business himself. The early years of Aerotek were lean, with the cousins doing much of the recruiting and selling in person. That hands-on start shaped a company culture focused on sales teams and local offices, which remained a feature of the business as it expanded nationally and later into Europe and Asia.
Bisciotti has often credited his mother and his early sales experience for his approach to business. He spent years recruiting candidates and calling on clients himself, and he has described the ability to hire and keep good salespeople as the main reason the company grew.
Philanthropy and public life
Bisciotti and his wife Renee run a family foundation that supports education, children's causes and community organizations in Maryland. He has also donated to his alma mater, Salisbury University. Much of his giving is done quietly, and he gives few interviews outside of team events.
As Ravens owner he has faced public scrutiny at times, most notably in 2014 over the club's handling of a domestic violence case involving running back Ray Rice, when he held a press conference to answer criticism. Within the league he has served on owners' committees. The Ravens won the Super Bowl after the 2012 season, the first title of his tenure as majority owner.
He has also been one of the owners pushing for improvements to the Ravens' home stadium and training facilities, financed in part with public money from the Maryland Stadium Authority, which has drawn debate among local taxpayers.