Few people understand the world of glitz, glamor, and high-energy nightlife better than hospitality impresario Noah Tepperberg, making the disciplined lifestyle he adopted as a University of Miami business student all the more remarkable.
“My freshman year, I made a very clear decision to just be a student, you know?” said Tepperberg, B.B.A. ’97, co-founder and co-CEO of Tao Group Hospitality, which operates nearly a billion dollars’ worth of entertainment venues and restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Dubai, and Singapore, among other high-profile destinations.
Before arriving at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus in the early 1990s, Tepperberg had already made a name for himself as a master event promoter in Manhattan, his hometown. Alongside fellow student Jason Strauss—who is now Tao Group Hospitality’s other co-CEO—Tepperberg earned a lucrative income organizing parties and club events that consistently drew crowds.
Even with his early success as a teenage entrepreneur in one of the world’s most competitive markets, Tepperberg recognized the importance of honing his business skills. That’s when he chose Miami Herbert Business School.
“I went there and said, ‘My job is to be a student right now and to get good grades,’’ recalled Tepperberg, who turns 50 in August and is a happily married father of two. “So, I really stayed away from everything” that could prove distracting. To include South Beach’s burgeoning nightclub scene.
Not that Tepperberg would have been drinking and dancing until sunrise: For him, clubs are nocturnal laboratories where his discerning eye looks for ways to boost customer satisfaction.
“I try to put myself in the guests’ shoes and see what they may see, and then try to make decisions from that perspective,” said Tepperberg, whose Tao Group Hospitality has nightclubs, eateries, lounges and daylife facilities across four continents. “It’s not like I’m just sitting in my office here on Park Avenue, in New York.
“Hospitality is a human business, we’re selling experiences,” Tepperberg explained. “We’re asking people not just to give us time, but to give us money. So, you have to be there and experience it and talk to guests. It takes a lot of different layers to manage what we do effectively.”
During Tepperberg’s sophomore and junior years as at the University of Miami, his nose stayed in his textbooks. But during the summers, he made money attracting patrons to Big Apple nightclubs, in concert with Jason Strauss, who was a Boston University student.
Tepperberg waited until his senior year to let the dedicated student side of his personality intermingle with the accomplished entrepreneur side.
“My courseload was a little bit lighter, and at that time I had a little bit more confidence,” Tepperberg said. “I was finding venues that needed business and making deals to get UM students to come to those venues. The second semester of senior year, I think I had something going in a South Beach club almost every Friday night.”
Tepperberg dismissed the idea that he was destined to be a hospitality mogul.
“I don’t think people are born necessarily to be good at certain things. Those skills are developed,” Tepperberg noted. “A lot of it comes from your parents and your family, and from people you spend time growing up with.”
His time at Miami Herbert also played a role in shaping his approach to business. The courses he took in management and marketing provided valuable insights that would later help him navigate the complexities of the hospitality industry. Beyond the classroom, the disciplined approach he developed as a student carried over into his career, allowing him to balance creativity with strategic thinking.
