He was awarded the University Prize for his honours thesis[9] and later co-authored a paper with Professor Mark Hirst published in the academic journal Accounting, Organizations and Society.

[citation needed] Prior to joining Westfield Holdings in 1987 he worked in investment banking at First Boston Corporation[11] in the US for two years.

[12] The pair were newly arrived immigrants to Australia and had opened a small delicatessen shop in the western suburbs of Sydney.

[12] Their venture was a success and their ambition led to the expansion of their business to include the development of residential housing and larger shopping centres.

[16][17] A feature of the company was a marked shift towards high quality "iconic" or flagship malls showcasing the world's best retailers and luxury brands.

[citation needed] Five-star service and upscale restaurants and entertainment were a critical element in this shift, as was its adoption of a more aggressive "innovation" strategy to use digital technology "to better connect the retailer with the shopper".

[26] Together with his father, Frank, and two brothers, David and Peter, he plays a key role in decisions about the Lowy family's philanthropic activities.

[27] In recent years, the family has supported the establishment of the Lowy Cancer Centre at the University of NSW,[28] a new building (the Lowy Packer Building) to house the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the St Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research.

The move attracted criticism from the football community for apparent nepotism, and Steven's lack of success outside his father's business influence[32] under his leadership.

Steven Lowy's tenure as chairman ended in November 2018, after a protracted conflict with the A-League clubs and other elements of the football community regarding a desire to expand the democratic nature of the Federation, and to split the A-League away from the FFA's direct control into a new English Premier League style club owned structure.

Since the split of the A-League from Football Australia, important metrics including revenues, match attendance and club distributions have reduced materially.