Born in 1942 in Newark, he went to Rutgers-Newark and earned his MBA from Seton Hall University. Chambers made his fortune as the Chairman of Wesray Capital Corporation, a private equity holding company, which he co-founded with William E. Simon, the former United States Secretary of the Treasury. A successful businessman, philanthropist and humanitarian, he currently serves as the United Nation’s Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Malaria and founded The National Mentoring Partnership and America’s Promise Alliance with Colin Powell. In 2011, Time named Chambers one of its most influential people for his work to end the spread of malaria; the efforts of the organization have cut the spread of the disease by at least 50 percent in most African nations. In 2006, Chambers created a nonprofit company that has raised more than $5 billion to be used for charitable causes.

Most of Chambers’ charitable works center around children and his efforts to revitalize Newark. He made significant contributions to the Newark Boys and Girls Club, which he had belonged to as a child in the 1950s, and he has financed the college educations of hundreds of students from the Newark Public Schools district. He is the Founding Chairman of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and was instrumental in getting the Prudential Center built while he was among the owners of the New Jersey Devils.