Green has participated in many business ventures. In the 1980s, he managed E-II Holdings, a company that had been forced into bankruptcy because of its junk bond debts. The company received an infusion of capital from Leon Black, resulting in its emergence from bankruptcy. From 1988 to 1996, Green was Chairman and CEO of Samsonite Corporation. He was also Chairman and CEO of Astrum International from 1990 to 1995. During this time, Astrum operated Samsonite as a subsidiary as well as Culligan Water. Both Samsonite and Culligan were spun off as separate publicly owned companies in 1995. As chairman of Astrum, Green directed the company's expansion into emerging markets in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East. In 1992, he was Chairman and CEO when the company opened the first American retailing store in Red Square, Moscow.
On November 18, 1997, Green was sworn in as United States Ambassador to Singapore, a position that he would hold until March 1, 2001. A political appointee of President Bill Clinton, he stayed on as Ambassador during the early days of the administration of President George W. Bush. Green spearheaded a number of strategic programs that bilateral relations economic development, intellectual property, immigration and national security. He directly led the effort to start bilateral negotiations which culminated in the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
Career after being Ambassador
Honorary Consul General of Singapore, Miami, Florida
In 2002, Green was appointed Honorary Consul General of Singapore in Miami. The Honorary Consulate General in Miami refers consular and visa applications to the Singaporean embassy in Washington.
Business career after Ambassadorship
Green is currently Managing Director, Greenstreet Partners, a private merchant bank. Previously he was chairman and CEO of Greenstreet Partners, Auburndale Properties, and the CEENIS Property Fund.
Green established the Green Family Foundation in 1991. The foundation supports HIV/AIDS prevention and education, access to the arts, homeless assistance, disaster relief, and community outreach. Green's daughter, Kimberly, is the chair of the foundation.
Philanthropy
In 2015, Green, his wife Dorothea, daughter Kimberly Green and the Green Family Foundation, made a $20 million donation to Florida International University. In honor of the donation, the University renamed its School of International and Public Affairs to the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. In furtherance of the Green Family’s commitment, FIU has also renamed its Latin American and Caribbean Center to the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center and established the Kimberly Green Scholarship and Dorothea Green Lecture Series Fund. Green and his wife are no strangers of Florida International University, having supported the University for nearly 25 years, the Green family has made prior donations, resulting in the naming of the University's library, The Steve and Dorothea Green Library, and the Frost Art Museum, creating art lecture series, and preserving history through the Digital Library of the Caribbean. They also forever changed the way FIU teaches medicine through the university’s groundbreaking Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, where students work with medically under-served families throughout Miami-Dade County.
Awards
American Red Cross Philos Award for a $1 million donation to the Red Cross of Greater Miami & the Keys, 1999.