Steve Schneider

Director of the Silicon Valley, SF Bay Area, and Philanthropy Director

Biography

Steven Schneider founded Homes 4 the Homeless a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2018 when his house was burned down in the Sonoma wildfires. Armed with a new appreciation of what it was like to lose a home, Steve embarked on a mission to help others left in similar positions.

A lifetime veteran of the auto industry, Schneider has been a pioneer in electric transportation with electric cars, trucks and buses, long before it became fashionable. As CEO of ZAP in 2005 he raised nearly $1 billion while successfully listing ZAP on the NYSE. He was featured by Arca Ex as a stock market revolutionary and appeared on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” with Maria Bartiromo, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and others.

Schneider has a unique ability to identify emerging markets and disruptive technologies to create successful mergers and acquisitions. For ZAP in 2011 he completed a 51 percent acquisition of Jonway Automobile, the first time in history that a foreign company purchased a controlling interest in a Chinese Automobile Manufacturing Plant. In 2012 he completed the acquisition of the Aptera Electric Car for Jonway Group. He acquired a majority stake in Detroit Electric, which was the most famous electric car in history during the early 1900s.

Spending a lifetime in the automotive industry, Schneider has unique expertise in automotive marketing, sales, distribution, logistics, distribution, finance, engineering integration, homologation and operations. Earlier in his career, Schneider held positions with Honda, VW, Renault, Ford, Smart and DeLorean. Currently, Schneider is Chairman of Autodistributors Inc., an independent automotive distributor in Northern California.

Schneider is a member of the Bay Area Council, a civic group made up of business leaders committed to promoting the health and well-being of the Bay Area with a focus on building the economic relationships with China. He served as President of Tianyi Group of China (investment division) to invest in the Bay Area and USA. He was appointed a Senior Advisor for Economic Development to Hangzhou, one of China’s “Innovation Zones.” He is also Vice Chairman of Samyang Optics. Co., LTD of South Korea.

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