About Stephen Schwarzman
Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone, reported record financial results for 2025, including distributable earnings of $1.75 per share in the fourth quarter, a 20% increase in full-year distributable earnings to $5.7 billion, and assets under management reaching a record of nearly $1.2 trillion. On the company’s earnings calls, he described the current environment as one of “uncertainty around tariffs” that has “dramatically impacted investor sentiment,” while emphasizing that Blackstone’s model is “very well designed for periods of stress” due to its “virtually no net debt” and $177 billion in dry powder. He stated that “commercial real estate values bottomed in December 2023” and are “approaching a steeper point in that recovery curve,” with transaction activity increasing 25% year-over-year in U.S. logistics.
Schwarzman highlighted several strategic initiatives, including a partnership with Wellington and Vanguard to “collaborate on integrated public private investment solutions,” and efforts to open the defined contribution retirement market to alternatives following a U.S. administration executive order. He noted that Blackstone raised $62 billion in inflows in the first quarter of 2025, the highest in three years, and emphasized the firm’s focus on “AI revolution,” “infrastructure,” and “life sciences.” On private credit, he argued that defaults in the sector have resulted from “bank-led and bank syndicated credits, not private credit,” and that the traditional private credit model involves “direct orig
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Stephen Schwarzman's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Reporter0:00
Steve Schwarzman is one of the kings of private equity. He's the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, and he's been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration's tax policies. I spoke to him yesterday at a special event organized by UBS Wealth Management, and I asked what's at stake in this year's election and what he's particularly worried about.
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Stephen Schwarzman0:17
What I worry about is, we've had a variety of moves to the left and almost a questioning of the system. We've got a lot of unhappy, angry people in society who have a right to be unhappy and angry. But as we direct that anger to different segments of society, we start getting behavior which interferes with an economic recovery. My own sense is we have to find a way to have more harmony in the society and more balance, so that we can go ahead and address the kind of problems that are affecting the country.
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Reporter1:06
There is an income gap that is widening tremendously right now, and we have seen a lot of the rhetoric move in that direction, the haves versus have-nots. But changing the tone there, do you think that with this administration there is an understanding of the capital markets and of job creation and of some of the issues that other people in the business community are seeing?
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Stephen Schwarzman1:32
Tim Geithner is a really smart person and Tim understands all these issues. I think for a variety of reasons, the current administration got off on a different tack. I don't know that I would have chosen healthcare as the first issue to occupy a year with the kind of economic issues that were facing us. Now they had to cycle back. It's always easier to look backwards; I obviously felt that way at the time. However, the economic issues facing the country were issues number one, two, three, and four. Until you really address those and get the economy moving, it's very difficult to deal with other issues.
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Reporter2:25
We just came through this very heavy legislative process for the past two years. You talk about healthcare. Some say the next two are going to be about regulation and figuring out the legislation exactly what we signed into law with financial reform, the Dodd-Frank bill. The heavy lifting is done, but to some extent, in terms of writing it, figuring it out is the challenge now. So explain to me how you think that the environment is going to change. The most obvious one is the Volcker Rule, right? We've seen KKR out there buying proprietary traders who were to come over from Goldman Sachs. What is actually changing in the landscape for you?
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Stephen Schwarzman3:06
You have a variety of changes in both Dodd-Frank and also Basel III. Don't underestimate Basel III and the needs for a lot more capital, and the way that changes the extension of credit in the banking system. We'll create stronger financial institutions in Asia, the US in second position, and Europe in third. There are going to be a lot of those changes. You've got something like Volcker, and what happens with not just prop trading but with their alternative asset businesses in the commercial banking system, which to some degree I think we will be a beneficiary. There'll be less people in those businesses; it'll give us the opportunity not only to start new products but also to purchase different groups. But I think we can't underestimate the number of issues that are not resolved. When we talk about heavy lifting, I believe there are 70 studies going on now with the expectation of 200 regulations, which can take the financial system in a lot of odd positions.
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Reporter4:30
The obvious overhang: Fannie and Freddie still in conservatorship and not having been dealt with. That's not even part of Dodd-Frank. Until these types of rules are in and tax policy is determined, the system is really not quite frozen, but people's desire to take normal levels of risk to get normal levels of outcome has really been interfered with. Now some of this is necessary because you needed to reform elements of the financial system. But as you think about it, this crisis really started in July of 2007 when credit started shrinking up, and it looks like we've got another two years to go. So it's going to be a five-year run of odd things happening, imposing themselves on the economy which itself went off the rails. This is a long time to have a normal functioning economy.
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Stephen Schwarzman5:35
It sounds like what you're saying is that the regulation to come and the legislation that's being figured out is in some ways elongating the recession, though we are technically out of one. I think that's absolutely the case. There's no doubt about that.
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Reporter5:50
So do you think we are still in a recession even though the economic indicators would officially say...?
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Stephen Schwarzman5:55
What I was responding to is that it's going to prolong a slower growth period, and it's going to depress the level of recovery. We should not be in a 1 to 2% recovery now. We should be somewhere around 3.5 to 5%.
