David Weild IV has stood in rooms where history was made. As Vice Chairman of NASDAQ, he worked alongside Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz, and Craig Barrett. He helped stabilize the financial markets after one of the darkest days in American history. He chaired a 9/11 charity for years, supporting children who lost parents in the attacks.
But when you ask David about the most important thing he has ever done, the answer is simpler than his resume suggests.
Show up. Love unconditionally. Lead by example.
In this episode of the Working Dads Podcast, David sits down with host Johnathan Grzybowski to talk about legacy, fatherhood, and what surviving 9/11 taught him about what actually matters in life.
Proximity to Tragedy Changes Your Priorities
The Friday before September 11, 2001, David Weild IV was at Windows on the World — the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center — attending a closing dinner. Four days later, the towers fell. Ten of his friends died that morning.
“You understand just how lucky you are to be here,” David said.
That proximity to tragedy — that awareness that life can be erased in a single morning — fundamentally shaped how David approached everything after it. Including fatherhood.
For working dads, this is one of the most important lessons you can absorb without having to live through it yourself. The urgency to be present with your kids doesn’t require a catastrophe to activate it. It just requires the honest acknowledgment that time is not guaranteed.
David’s takeaway: don’t wait for a defining moment to start showing up. Start now.
Know Where You Come From — And Teach Your Kids the Same
David’s family history is remarkable. His grandmother was a frontline nurse in World War One. His great-great-grandfather’s family had a wine license in Rhode Island during Prohibition — the only one in the state — for religious institutions. His grandfather built English row houses in New York and worked on the Brooklyn Bridge.
He shared this history not to impress but to make a point: knowing where you came from gives you the foundation to know who you are.
For working dads, this is a practical lesson in legacy. The objects in your home, the stories at your dinner table, the names you pass down — these are not small things. They are the connective tissue between generations. Teaching your children their family history is one of the most underrated acts of parenting.
David’s advice: take the time to tell your kids where they came from. Not just the successes. All of it.
The Best Thing You Can Do for Other People’s Kids Is Be Present for Your Own
David speaks passionately about systemic inequality — about the Brookings Institute research showing that children born into single-parent households are 50% less likely to succeed. He talks about the disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities. He chaired a 9/11 charity for years specifically because he understood that children who lose a parent lose more than a person — they lose an anchor.
But underneath all of that advocacy is a simpler truth that David returns to when asked about advice for new dads.
“Love them. Show up. Be present. And be careful not to be overly judgmental.”
Four sentences. That is what 25 years of executive leadership, two decades of raising children, and one near-miss with a historic tragedy distills down to.
The data on paternal involvement is clear. Present fathers produce better outcomes across every measurable dimension — emotional regulation, academic performance, financial stability, mental health. David has seen this from the top of some of the most powerful institutions in America and from the kitchen table of his own home.
The answer is the same in both places. Show up.
What Working Dads Can Take From David Weild IV
David raised three successful children — a finance professional, an environmental markets executive, and an AI and computer science student — while running global operations at NASDAQ, navigating the post-9/11 financial crisis, and advocating for children who had lost parents.
His framework for fatherhood is not complicated. It is just consistent.
Know your history. Tell your kids where they came from. Show up every day. Love without conditions. Lead by example and trust that your children are watching everything you do.
On the Working Dads Podcast, David reminds us that the most important meeting on your calendar is not the one with the CFO. It is the one at your dinner table tonight.
Working Dads is the podcast for fathers figuring out work, family, and everything in between. Hosted by Johnathan Grzybowski, co-founder of Penji. New episodes every week.
