Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate across the globe. Blackstone is also active in credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, secondaries, growth equity, and insurance solutions. As of September 30, 2025, Blackstone has $1.2 trillion in total assets under management, making it the world's largest alternative investment firm.
History
Founding and early history
Blackstone was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman with US$400000 (equivalent to $million in ) in seed capital.[2][3] The founders derived their firm's name from their names: "Schwarz" is German for "black"; "Peter", "petros" (πέτρος, masculine), or "petra" (πετρα, feminine) means "stone" or "rock" in Greek.[4][5] The two founders had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers. There, Schwarzman served as head of global mergers and acquisitions business.[6] Prominent investment banker Roger C. Altman, another Lehman veteran, left his position as a managing director of Lehman Brothers to join Peterson and Schwarzman at Blackstone in 1987, but left in 1992 to join the Clinton administration as Deputy Treasury Secretary and later founded advisory investment bank Evercore Partners in 1995.[7]
Blackstone was originally formed as a mergers and acquisitions advisory boutique. It advised on the 1987 merger of investment banks E. F. Hutton & Co. and Shearson Lehman Brothers, collecting a $3.5 million fee.[8][9]
From the outset in 1985, Schwarzman and Peterson planned to enter the private equity business but had difficulty in raising their first fund because neither had ever led a leveraged buyout.[2] Blackstone finalized fundraising for its first private equity fund in the aftermath of Black Monday, the October 1987 global stock market crash. After two years of providing strictly advisory services, Blackstone decided to pursue a merchant banking model after its founders determined that many situations required an investment partner rather than just an advisor. The largest investors in the first fund included Prudential Insurance Company, Nikko Securities and the General Motors pension fund.[10]
Blackstone also ventured into other businesses, most notably investment management. In 1987 Blackstone entered into a 50–50 partnership with the founders of BlackRock, Larry Fink (current CEO of BlackRock), and Ralph Schlosstein (CEO of Evercore). The two founders, who had previously run the mortgage-backed securities divisions at First Boston and Lehman Brothers, respectively, initially joined Blackstone to manage an investment fund and provide advice to financial institutions. They also planned to use a Blackstone fund to invest in financial institutions and help build an asset management business specializing in fixed income investments.[11][12]
As the business grew, Japanese bank Nikko Securities acquired a 20% interest in Blackstone for a $100 million investment in 1988 (valuing the firm at $500 million). Nikko's investment allowed for a major expansion of the firm and its investment activities.[13] The growth firm also recruited politician and investment banker David Stockman from Salomon Brothers in 1988. Stockman led many key deals in his time at the firm but had a mixed record with his investments.[2] He left Blackstone in 1999 to start his own private equity firm, Heartland Industrial Partners, based in Greenwich, Connecticut.[14]
The firm advised CBS Corporation on its 1988 sale of CBS Records to Sony to form what would become Sony Music Entertainment.[15] In June 1989, Blackstone acquired freight railroad operator CNW Corporation.[16] The same year, Blackstone partnered with Salomon Brothers to raise $600 million to acquire distressed thrifts in the midst of the savings and loan crisis.[17]
1990s
In 1990, Blackstone launched its hedge funds business, initially intended to manage investments for Blackstone senior management.[18] The same year, Blackstone formed a partnership with J. O. Hambro Magan in the UK and Indosuez in France.[19][20] Blackstone and Silverman also acquired a 65% interest in Prime Motor Inn's Ramada and Howard Johnson franchises for $140 million, creating Hospitality Franchise Systems as a holding company.[21]
Early 2000s
In October 2000, Blackstone acquired the mortgage for 7 World Trade Center from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.[39][40]
In July 2002, Blackstone completed fundraising for a $6.45 billion private equity fund, Blackstone Capital Partners IV, the largest private equity fund at that time.[42]
With a significant amount of capital in its new fund, Blackstone was one of a handful of private equity investors capable of completing large transactions in the adverse conditions of the early 2000s recession. At the end of 2002, Blackstone, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Bain Capital acquired Houghton Mifflin Company for $1.28 billion. The transaction represented one of the first large club deals completed since the collapse of the dot-com bubble.[43]
Buyouts (2005–2007)
During the buyout boom of 2006 and 2007, Blackstone completed some of the largest leveraged buyouts. Its most notable transactions during this period included:
Initial public offering in 2007
In 2004, Blackstone had explored the possibility of creating a business development company (BDC), Blackridge Investments, similar to vehicles pursued by Apollo Management.[70] Blackstone failed to raise capital through an initial public offering that summer and the project were shelved.[71] It also planned to raise a fund on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2006, but its rival KKR launched a $5-billion fund there that soaked up all demand for such funds, and Blackstone abandoned its project.[2]
In 2007, Blackstone acquired Alliant Insurance Services, an insurance brokerage firm. The company was sold to KKR in 2012.[72]
On June 21, 2007, Blackstone became a public company via an initial public offering, selling a 12.3% stake in the company for $4.13 billion, in the largest U.S. IPO since 2002.[73]
2008 to 2010
During the 2008 financial crisis, Blackstone closed only a few transactions. In January 2008, Blackstone made a small co-investment alongside TPG Capital and Apollo Management in their buyout of Harrah's Entertainment, although that transaction had been announced during the buyout boom period. Other notable investments that Blackstone completed in 2008 and 2009 included AlliedBarton, Performance Food Group,[75][76] Apria Healthcare, and CMS Computers.
In July 2008, Blackstone, NBC Universal, and Bain Capital acquired The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications for $3.5 billion. In 2015, the digital assets were sold to IBM for $2 billion. In 2018, the remainder of the company was sold to Byron Allen for $300 million.[77]
Investments 2011 to 2015
- In February 2011, the company acquired Centro Properties Group US from Centro Retail Trust (now Vicinity Centres) for $9.4 billion.[82] The company became Brixmor Property Group and Blackstone sold its remaining interest in the company in August 2016.[83]
- In November 2011, a fund managed by the company acquired medical biller Emdeon for $3 billion.[84]
- In late 2011, Blackstone Group LP acquired Jack Wolfskin, a German camping equipment company. In 2017, the company was handed over to its lenders.[85]
Investments 2016 to 2020
- In January 2016, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. acquired BioMed Realty Trust for $8 billion.[104]
- In February 2016, Blackstone sold four office buildings to Douglas Emmett for $1.34 billion.[105]
- In April 2016, Blackstone acquired 84% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's stake in the Indian IT services firm Mphasis.[106]
- On January 4, 2017, Blackstone acquired SESAC, a music-rights organization.[107]
Investments since 2021
In February 2026, Blackstone was one of several firms looking into investment opportunities in the Indian Premier League, the world's richest cricket league, according to Reuters.[186]
- In January 2021, Blackstone acquired a majority shareholding in Bourne Leisure, a UK holiday and leisure company that owns Butlin's, Haven Holidays, and Warner Leisure, for £3 billion.[143]
- In March 2021, Blackstone made a $6.2-billion takeover bid for Australian casino operator Crown Resorts, offering a 20% premium to its closing share price at the time of the offer. At the time, Blackstone had a near 10% stake in the company.[144][145]
July 2025 mass shooting
In July 2025, a mass shooting occurred at the Manhattan headquarters of Blackstone. The gunman, identified as 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura, entered the building wearing body armor and carrying an AR-15–style rifle. He opened fire in the lobby, killing four people. The victims included Wesley LePatner, a senior managing director at Blackstone and CEO of the real estate fund BREIT, an off-duty New York City police officer working security, a security guard, and another employee in the building.[187][188][189]
Operations
Blackstone operates through four primary departments: private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and credit.[11]
Corporate private equity
As of 2019, Blackstone was the world's largest private equity firm by capital commitments as ranked by Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking.[190] After dropping to second behind KKR in the 2022 ranking,[191] it regained the top spot in 2023,[192] and retained it in 2024,[193]
Controversies
Warrantless disclosure of Motel 6 occupancies
In separate cases in 2018 and 2019, the hotel chain Motel 6, owned by Blackstone, agreed to settle for $19.6 million for giving guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a warrant.[211][212]
Ancestry acquisition and data leaks
In 2020, Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Ancestry.com, which controls access to millions of people's genetic data, heightening concern about Blackstone's data privacy practices.[213] This data was disclosed to Blackstone, and it has aggressively defended itself against class action litigation relating to misuse of the data of people who did not consent to genetic testing but were affected through direct biological relations or other means of identification.
Business trends
The key trends for Blackstone are (as of the financial year ending December 31)[222]
See also
External links
References
- Blackstone Inc. 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 27, 2026^
- David Carey, John E Morris. King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone Crown, 2010, retrieved September 7, 2020^
- Private equity power list: #1 The Blackstone Group