Last year, Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) made $897 million. He is already among the richest people in America, with a net worth of $42 billion. He and another investment banker and former United States Secretary of Commerce, Peter Peterson, started the company with about $400,000 in 1985. At one tech company, management also made a huge sum of money.
In the most recent reported year, Blackstone made $2.4 billion on $8 billion in revenue. The company has a huge war chest for future financial transactions. When Blackstone announced these results, Schwarzman said, “We are exceptionally well positioned for the road ahead with nearly $200 billion of dry powder capital to invest.” Blackstone has a market cap of $152 billion. Shareholders have not done as well as Schwarzman. The stock is down 3% in the last two years. The S&P 500 is up 17% over the same period. Its dividend yield is 2.8%.
Because Schwarzman owns 20% of Blackstone, the modest dividend comprised most of his compensation. Bloomberg puts the sum he collected from dividend payments last year at $777 million. Bloomberg also pointed out that private equity firms like Blackstone have advantages over other financial institutions. “Blackstone, like other buyout shops, has grown into a powerhouse that touches all aspects of the economy, lending to businesses and financing infrastructure projects.” Blackstone often buys pieces of or all of private companies and usually sells them at a hefty profit.
Blackstone’s long-term success has continued to Schwarzman’s net worth. Ten years ago, it was “only” $10.7 billion.
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