DAVOS 2026 Live | Stephen Schwarzman On Tariffs, Geopolitics And India’s Role |

Well, Davos is just starting. You started last night, so you're catching me around noon in Davos. And most people aren't questioning the global economy and how it's doing. They're more interested in geopolitical stuff that's going on, whether it's Iran or Venezuela or Greenland or other types of things that keep happening with real rapidity. So no one has any answers to any of those things.

Right, more questions than answers. And like many things, time gives you the answers, but surprisingly most of those issues haven't had a huge impact on markets at this point.

I think the markets aren't reacting because one, there's some economic things that are going on that appear to be overwhelming actually some of those geopolitical issues, and the geopolitical issues themselves aren't resolved. So it's not quite 1945, but on the economic side, the advent of artificial intelligence and its future impact and changes has created, you know, it's not really a euphoria, it's solid economic growth in the United States, which is the world's biggest economy by far. We grew in the last quarter 4.3%. Now by Indian standards that's not much, but on the other hand, you know, we've got a GDP per capita probably around $70,000 and India has $3,000. So it's easier for India to have a bigger percentage growth, but for us to be growing 4% plus, you know, that's almost never happened in decades. And it's the impact of massive expenditures by the what's called the hyperscalers. They're just big companies that are all in the data and social media and other types of activities spending at unprecedented rates. And probably three-quarters of the growth in the United States is from the building of data centers. And now there's going to be a big boom in electricity because the US is really short electricity, and for the data centers to keep being built, you need the electricity, and that's creating even more in the way of economic growth. Now, that doesn't totally explain why European markets are up. But in the US, something magical is happening with technology and what people think is going to happen in the future.

Well, in point of fact, we have a point of view. And Blackstone is the largest builder of data centers in the world. And we're also the largest owner of data centers. And we're a huge investor in the modernization and growth of the electric grid. So for example, unlike India, we've had no growth in electricity in 20 years. And we're going to start running short and we're going to go into a world where most people think you'll have five to 6% growth. Now by Indian standards that's not that much. But if for 20 years you haven't grown at all, that increase is a very substantial increase. And the whole electric grid is going to need massive expansion, 50% type expansion at a minimum.

And so as investors, being in these two areas with increased concentration has turned out to be a simply wonderful outcome.