The New Tycoons: Inside the Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything

Chapter 11

It’s a Steve, Steve, Steve World

Inside Blackstone

My first official day on the private-equity beat coincided with Blackstone’s annual media dinner, which in 2007 was held at Daniel, a posh restaurant on New York’s Upper East Side. The off-the-record gathering was meant to mix the reporters who wrote about the firm on a regular basis with Blackstone’s top managers in a more relaxed setting than a conference room.

For me, it was more like sensory overload. I’d barely begun to recognize the names of the big firms, who ran them, and what they owned. I barely knew who Steve Schwarzman was. Being the newest guy on the beat, I didn’t rate a seat at his table, but a Blackstone rep was nice enough to provide an introduction after dinner. Told ...