Stephen A . Schwarzman is Chairman , CEO and co-founder of Blackstone – one of the world ’ s largest private equity firms . But his current success , coupled with an estimated net worth of $ 38bn , is a far cry from his early life . Schwarzman was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Abington , a suburb north of the city . He had his first taste for business young – his father owned a successful linen store and by the age of 10 , Schwarzman was helping out by working the lady ’ s handkerchief counter . By 14 , he had started his own lawn-mowing business but instead of cutting grass himself , he focused on attracting new customers and enlisted his two younger brothers to mow the lawn for him .
In an interview with the Washington Post in 2019 , Schwarzman explained how his childhood taught him that not everybody was going to be the same . When pushed by a young Schwarzman why he didn ’ t want to expand his successful business or open more stores across Philadelphia , Schwarzman ’ s father answered simply “ because I ’ m happy the way I am ”.
“ I thought that was sort of hard to take in ,” Schwarzman told the newspaper . “ His contentment is what made him a remarkable human being .” Schwarzman later studied social sciences at Yale before getting his first taste of finance at Donaldson , Lufkin & Jenrette . He went on to complete a Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School and found a job at Lehman Brothers , which he thought , at that time , was “ full of interesting characters , ex-CIA agents , ex-military , strays from the oil industry , family friends and randoms ”.
While at Lehman Brothers , he made a name for himself in mergers and acquisitions , rising to become managing director by the age of 31 . Schwarzman co-founded Blackstone in 1985 alongside Peter G . Peterson , a former Lehman Brothers CEO who had briefly served as US Secretary of Commerce during Nixon ’ s administration .
Though it started life as a boutique M & A advisory firm , within a couple of years Blackstone had launched its first private equity fund and later , by 1990 , had branched out into hedge funds using partners ’ own money .
Blackstone ’ s IPO success By the time of Blackstone ’ s initial public offering ( IPO ) in 2007 , the business had more than $ 88bn ’ s worth of assets under management . The IPO saw shares finish at over $ 35 each , valuing the firm at about $ 39bn and enriching the personal fortunes of both Schwarzman and Peterson . Schwarzman remained with Blackstone as CEO but Peterson retired shortly after the IPO . He died in 2018 .
Today , Blackstone claims to have $ 880bn of assets under management including $ 260bn in private equity and $ 280bn in real estate . Stephen A . Schwarzman is still the company ’ s Chairman and CEO , having indicated that he has no intention to retire . He has two children – the film producer Teddy Schwarzman , and writer and podcaster Zibby Owens .
fintechmagazine . com 19