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Stephen Schwarzman

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Blackstone Inc.

Search every verified Stephen Schwarzman interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Blackstone Inc., discussed plans and personal motivations in a recent interview with TV Tokyo BIZ. He announced an intention to donate 300 million yen to support iPS cell research and development, specifically for liver disease treatment. Schwarzman stated that his father died of liver failure over 30 years ago and that he hopes the research leads to a new treatment. He also said Blackstone plans to invest up to approximately 6.4 trillion yen in Japan over the next three years. In the interview, Schwarzman also touched on investment strategy and past diplomatic involvement. He noted that in Japan, where people are accustomed to very low interest rates, a high percentage of personal assets are held in cash or bank deposits, and he described these assets as targeted for double-digit returns of 10% or more. He recalled a 2017 meeting at Davos days before President Trump took office, saying the head of Davos asked him, in front of Trump, whether he would become a bridge between China and the United States during Trump’s first term.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think that you have to get the federal government in the game in a big way and that this leap forward technologically which is going to happen with or without us really should be with us and it's an opportunity in effect for another moonshot kind of mobilization by the United States.”

“We bought and sold 70 billion dollars of properties in 1 month. The most anybody ever had sold in a year was like bought and sold 10. So, this was like a complete out-of-body experience. We just sold the last property in the last month or two. We made 3.2 times profit on that 10 billion. If we had held all of it, we probably would have been buried.”

“I believe the most important decision is to not lose money. Some people care about the upside. They don't worry much about the downside. If they think the upside is great, I like to start in the reverse. Sort of like a doctor, you know, do no harm.”

“When I came to China the first time with my children in 1990, there were almost no cars in China and they were all on bicycles. 10 years later, in 2000, the average income per person in China was only $300 for a whole year. So, I've watched the absolute economic revolution that the government of China has helped create for its people. It's astonishing. And now the average income I think is somewhere around $14,000. A”

“It's the growth of AI and the need for power — at Blackstone we've become the largest developer and owner of data centers in the world, focusing on the 'pick and shovel' business to capture durable returns while avoiding the biggest risks of trying to pick AI winners.”

“One part of our strategy was to go into the M&A business because it's one of the world's great businesses — you need no capital and all you do is talk and somebody gives you millions of dollars.”

Other executives at Blackstone Inc.

  • Jonathan Gray, General Partner, President, Chief Operating Officer & Director
  • Joe Baratta, Global Head of Private Equity Strategies & Director

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →