Blackstone Inc.

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox company 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

Template:History of private equity and venture capital

Founding and early history

Blackstone was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman with Template:US$ (equivalent to $Template:InflationTemplate:Nbspmillion in Template:Inflation/year) in seed capital.<ref name="Carey-2010">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:RP<ref>Private equity power list: #1 The Blackstone Group Template:Webarchive. Fortune, July 2, 2007</ref> The founders derived their firm's name from their names: "Schwarz" is German for "black"; "Peter", "petros" (Template:Lang, masculine), or "petra" (Template:Lang, feminine) means "stone" or "rock" in Greek.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The two founders had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers. There, Schwarzman served as head of global mergers and acquisitions business.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:PeterGeorgePeterson.jpg
Blackstone co-founder Peter Peterson was the former chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers.

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.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="BXS1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP He left Blackstone in 1999 to start his own private equity firm, Heartland Industrial Partners, based in Greenwich, Connecticut.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The firm advised CBS Corporation on its 1988 sale of CBS Records to Sony to form what would become Sony Music Entertainment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 1989, Blackstone acquired freight railroad operator CNW Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1990s

File:Blackstone Group logo.png
The Blackstone Group logo in use prior to the firm's rebranding as simply Blackstone

In 1990, Blackstone launched its hedge funds business, initially intended to manage investments for Blackstone senior management.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The same year, Blackstone formed a partnership with J. O. Hambro Magan in the UK and Indosuez in France.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1991, Blackstone created its Europe unit<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and launched its real estate investment business with the acquisition of a series of hotel businesses under Henry Silverman's leadership. In October 1991, Blackstone and Silverman added Days Inns of America for $250 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1993, Hospitality Franchise Systems acquired Super 8 Motels for $125 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Silverman left Blackstone to serve as CEO of HFS, which later became Cendant Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Blackstone made a number of notable investments in the early and mid-1990s, including Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company (1991), Six Flags (1991), US Radio (1994), Centerplate (1995), MEGA Brands (1996). Also, in 1996, Blackstone partnered with the Loewen Group, the second-largest funeral home and cemetery operator in North America, to acquire funeral home and cemetery businesses. The partnership's first acquisition was a $295 million buyout of Prime Succession from GTCR.<ref>The Loewen Group and Blackstone Capital Partners form corporate venture to acquire Prime SuccessionTemplate:Dead link Business Wire, June 17, 1996. Accessed February 20, 2009.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1995, Blackstone sold its stake in BlackRock to PNC Financial Services for $240 million. Between 1995 and 2014, PNC reported $12 billion in pretax revenues and capital gains from BlackRock. Schwarzman later described the selling of BlackRock as his worst business decision ever.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1997, Blackstone completed fundraising for its third private equity fund, with approximately $4 billion of investor commitments<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a $1.1-billion real estate investment fund.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 1997, Blackstone made its first investment in Allied Waste.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1998, Blackstone sold a 7% interest in its management company to AIG, valuing Blackstone at $2.1 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1999, Blackstone partnered with Apollo Management to provide capital for Allied Waste's acquisition of Browning-Ferris Industries. Blackstone's investment in Allied was one of its largest at that point in the firm's history.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1999, Blackstone launched its mezzanine capital business. It brought in five professionals, led by Howard Gellis from Nomura Holding America's Leveraged Capital Group, to manage the business.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Blackstone's investments in the late 1990s included AMF Group (1996), Haynes International (1997), American Axle (1997), Premcor (1997), CommNet Cellular (1998), Graham Packaging (1998), Centennial Communications (1999), Bresnan Communications (1999), and PAETEC Holding Corp. (1999). Haynes and Republic Technologies International both had problems and ultimately filed bankruptcy.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP

Blackstone's investments in telecommunications businesses—four cable TV systems in rural areas (TW Fanch 1 and 2, Bresnan Communications and Intermedia Partners IV) and a cell phone operator in the Rocky Mountain states (CommNet Cellular) were among the most successful of the era, generating $1.5 billion of profits for Blackstone's funds.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP

Blackstone Real Estate Advisers, its real estate affiliate, bought the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. in July 1998 for $39 million<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and sold it to Monument Realty in August 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early 2000s

In October 2000, Blackstone acquired the mortgage for 7 World Trade Center from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

File:StephenSchwarzman.jpg
Schwarzman's Blackstone Group completed the first major IPO of a private equity firm in June 2007.<ref name="WEF">Photographed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2008.</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2002, Hamilton E. James joined Blackstone, where he serves as president and chief operating officer. He also serves on the firm's executive and management committees, and its board of directors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In late 2002, Blackstone acquired TRW Automotive in a $4.7 billion buyout, the largest private equity deal announced that year (the deal was completed in early 2003). TRW's parent was acquired by Northrop Grumman, while Blackstone purchased its automotive parts business, a major supplier of automotive systems.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Blackstone also purchased a majority interest in Columbia House, a music-buying club, in mid-2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Blackstone made a significant investment in Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), a monoline bond insurer alongside PMI Group, The Cypress Group and CIVC Partners. FGIC incurred heavy losses, along with other bond insurers in the 2008 credit crisis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2005, Blackstone was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard, a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. Blackstone's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, and TPG Capital. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it ceded to the buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable for the number of firms involved, the largest club deal completed to that point.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered crossholdings among firms to be generally unattractive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, Blackstone launched its long/short equity hedge fund business, Kailix Advisors. According to Blackstone, as of September 30, 2008, Kailix Advisors had $1.9 billion of assets under management. In December 2008, Blackstone announced that Kailix would be spun off to its management team to form a new fund as an independent entity backed by Blackstone.<ref name="hedgerationalize">Template:Cite press release</ref>

While Blackstone was active on the corporate investment side, it was also busy pursuing real estate investments. Blackstone acquired Prime Hospitality<ref>The Blackstone Group to Acquire Prime Hospitality Corp. Press Release, August 18, 2004. Accessed February 20, 2009 Template:Webarchive</ref> and Extended Stay America in 2004. Blackstone followed these investments with the acquisition of La Quinta Inns & Suites in 2005. Blackstone's largest transaction, the $26-billion buyout of Hilton Hotels Corporation, occurred in 2007 under the tenure of Hilton CFO Stephen Bollenbach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Extended Stay Hotels was sold to The Lightstone Group in July 2007 and Prime Hospitality's Wellesley Inns were folded into La Quinta.<ref>Private-Equity Firm Sees Room for Value in Hotels Template:Webarchive. Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2005</ref> La Quinta Inns & Suites was spun out for IPO in 2014 and later acquired by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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:

Investment Year acquired Description of transaction Template:Refh
TDC 2005 In December 2005, Blackstone together with a group of firms, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira, Apax Partners and Providence Equity Partners, acquired Tele-Denmark Communications. The company was the former telecom monopoly in Denmark, under the banner Nordic Telephone Company (NTC). The acquisition was made for $11 billion. <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
EQ Office 2006 Blackstone completed the $37.7 billion acquisition of one of the largest owners of commercial office properties in the US. At the time of its announcement, the EQ Office buyout became the largest in history, surpassing the buyout of Hospital Corporation of America. It would later be surpassed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts's buyout of TXU. Vornado Realty Trust bid against Blackstone, pushing up the final price. <ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP<ref>Blackstone's Bid for Equity Office Prevails Template:Webarchive The New York Times, February 8, 2007</ref>
Freescale Semiconductor A consortium led by Blackstone and including the Carlyle Group, Permira and the TPG Capital completed the $17.6 billion takeover of the semiconductor company. At the time of its announcement, Freescale would be the largest leveraged buyout of a technology company ever, surpassing the 2005 buyout of SunGard. The buyers were forced to pay an extra $800 million because KKR made a last minute bid as the original deal was about to be signed. Shortly after the deal closed in late 2006, cell phone sales at Motorola Corp., Freescale's former corporate parent and a major customer, began dropping sharply. In addition, in the recession of 2008–2009, Freescale's chip sales to automakers fell off, and the company came under great financial strain. <ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP<ref>Sorkin, Andrew Ross and Flynn, Laurie J. "Blackstone Alliance to Buy Chip Maker for $17.6 Billion Template:Webarchive." The New York Times, September 16, 2006</ref>
Michaels Blackstone, together with Bain Capital, acquired Michaels, the largest arts and crafts retailer in North America in a $6.0 billion leveraged buyout in October 2006. Bain and Blackstone narrowly beat out Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital in an auction for the company. <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Nielsen Holdings Blackstone together with AlpInvest Partners, Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Thomas H. Lee Partners acquired the global information and media company formerly known as VNU. <ref>VNU Shareholders Reject $8.9 Bln Offer From KKR Group Template:Webarchive. Bloomberg, March 8, 2006</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>VNU Agrees To Public Offer From Private Equity Group Template:Webarchive. Press Release, March 8, 2006</ref>
Orangina Blackstone, together with Lion Capital acquired Orangina, the bottler, distributor and franchisor of a number of carbonated and other soft drinks in Europe from Cadbury Schweppes for €1.85 billion <ref>Cadbury Sells Beverage Unit to Two Firms Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, November 22, 2005</ref>
Travelport Travelport, the parent of the travel website Orbitz.com, was acquired from Cendant by Blackstone and Technology Crossover Ventures in a deal valued at $4.3 billion. The sale of Travelport followed the spin-offs of Cendant's real estate and hospitality businesses, Realogy Corporation and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, respectively, in July 2006. (Later in the year, TPG and Silver Lake would acquire Travelport's chief competitor Sabre Holdings.) Soon after the Travelport buyout, Travelport spun off part of its subsidiary Orbitz Worldwide in an IPO and bought a Travelport competitor, Worldspan. <ref name="travelport">Template:Cite news</ref>
United Biscuits In October 2006 Blackstone, together with PAI Partners announced the acquisition of the British biscuit producer. The deal was completed in December 2006. <ref name="find2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
RGIS Inventory Specialists 2007 In March 2007, RGIS announced that Blackstone Group purchased a controlling interest in the company, the terms of the transaction were not disclosed. <ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Biomet Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners acquired Biomet, a medical device manufacturer for $10.9 billion. <ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Hilton Worldwide Blackstone acquired the premium hotel operator for approximately $26 billion, representing a 25% premium to Hilton's all-time high stock price. The Hilton deal, announced on July 3, 2007, is often referred to as the deal that marked the "high water mark" and the beginning of the end of the multi-year boom in leveraged buyouts. The company restructured its debt in 2010. <ref>Blackstone to Buy Hilton Hotels for $26 Billion Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, July 4, 2007</ref><ref>High-Water Mark Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, July 4, 2008</ref><ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP

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.<ref>Private Firms Use Closed-End Funds to Tap the Market Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, April 17, 2004</ref> Blackstone failed to raise capital through an initial public offering that summer and the project were shelved.<ref>Blackstone Group Postpones Fund Offering Template:Webarchive. The New York Times, July 16, 2004</ref> It also planned to raise a fund on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 2006, but its rival, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., launched a $5-billion fund there that soaked up all demand for such funds, and Blackstone abandoned its project.<ref name="Carey-2010" />Template:RP

In 2007, Blackstone acquired Alliant Insurance Services, an insurance brokerage firm. The company was sold to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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,<ref>Equity Firms Acquiring Food Supplier Template:Webarchive. Bloomberg, January 19, 2008</ref><ref>Blackstone, Wellspring to acquire Performance Food Group in $1.3bn deal. AltAssets, January 18, 2008 Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2009, Blackstone acquired Busch Entertainment Corporation from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $2.9 billion.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

In November 2013, Merlin Entertainments, owned in part by Blackstone Group, became a public company via an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2010, Blackstone announced it would buy Dynegy, an energy firm, for nearly $5 billion, but the acquisition was terminated in November 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Investments 2011 to 2015

Investments 2016 to 2020

Investments since 2021

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-07-29/blackstone-executive-killed-in-shooting-at-headquarters-video</ref>

2020s divestment

IBS Software

In May 2023, Blackstone entered into an agreement to divest its stake in IBS Software, a Kerala-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider. The transaction, valued at $450 million, involved the sale of Blackstone's stake to the global private equity firm Apax.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hotel Investment Partners

In October 2023, Blackstone divested its stake in the Spanish hotel conglomerate Hotel Investment Partners (HIP) to the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. As part of the agreement, GIC secured a 35% stake in HIP, with the deal establishing a valuation exceeding €4 billion for the company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Embassy Office Parks

In December 2023, Blackstone announced its intention to divest its entire 23.59% stake, valued at $833 million, in Embassy Office Parks, India's largest real estate investment trust. The decision came four years after the initial listing of the REIT, as revealed in a term sheet disclosed by Reuters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

HealthEdge

In April 2025, Blackstone sold its controlling stake in HealthEdge, a US software company, which it had owned since 2020.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> The company was acquired by Bain Capital in a deal that valued the company at $2.6 billion including debt.<ref name=":0" />

Personnel

In November 2025, Kathleen McCarthy Baldwin, global co-head of real estate, announced that she will leave the firm at the end of the year. Baldwin is one of Wall Street’s highest-ranking female executives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Operations

Blackstone operates through four primary departments: private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and credit.<ref name=BXS1 />

Corporate private equity

Template:Hatnote Template:As of, Blackstone was the world's largest private equity firm by capital commitments as ranked by Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After dropping to second behind KKR in the 2022 ranking,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it regained the top spot in 2023,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and retained it in 2024,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> before slipping to third in the 2025 list.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The firm invests through minority investments, corporate partnerships, and industry consolidations, and occasionally start-up investments. The firm focuses on friendly investments in large capitalization companies.<ref name="BXS1" />

Blackstone has primarily relied on private equity funds, pools of committed capital from pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, fund of funds, high-net-worth individuals, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors.<ref>New bosses, new rules .|work=Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2007Template:Full citation needed</ref> From 1987 to its IPO in 2007, Blackstone invested approximately $20 billion in 109 private equity transactions.<ref name="BXS1" />

Blackstone's most notable investments include Allied Waste,<ref name=":1" /> AlliedBarton Security Services, Graham Packaging, Celanese, Nalco, HealthMarkets, Houghton Mifflin, American Axle, TRW Automotive, Catalent Pharma Solutions, Prime Hospitality, Legoland, Madame Tussauds,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Luxury Resorts (LXR), Pinnacle Foods, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Motel 6, Apria Healthcare, Travelport, The Weather Channel (United States) and The PortAventura Resort. In 2009, Blackstone purchased Busch Entertainment (comprising the Sea World Parks, Busch Garden Parks and the two water parks).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020 it acquired Ancestry.com.

In 2012, Blackstone acquired a controlling interest in Utah-based Vivint, Inc., a home automation, security, and energy company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Real estate

Template:Hatnote Blackstone's most notable real estate investments have included QTS,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> EQ Office, Hilton Worldwide, Trizec Properties, Center Parcs UK, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Motel 6, Wyndham Worldwide, Southern Cross Healthcare and Vicinity Centres.<ref>Blackstone Real Estate Investment Portfolio (company website). Accessed February 20, 2009 Template:Webarchive</ref>

The purchase and subsequent IPO of Southern Cross led to controversy in the UK. Part of the purchase involved splitting the business into a property company, NHP, and a nursing home business, which Blackstone claimed would become "the leading company in the elderly care market". In May 2011, Southern Cross, now independent, was almost bankrupt, jeopardizing 31,000 elderly residents in 750 care homes. It denied blame, although Blackstone was widely accused in the media for selling on the company with an unsustainable business model and crippled with an impossible sale and leaseback strategy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After the 2007–2010 subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, Blackstone Group LP bought more than $5.5 billion worth of multi-family homes to rent and be sold when the prices rise.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref>

In 2014, Blackstone sold Northern California office buildings for $3.5 billion.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref> The buildings sold in San Francisco and Silicon Valley included 26 office buildings and two development parcels.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2018, Blackstone's Danish partner North 360 made a purchase agreement on several hundred apartments in Frederiksberg, Denmark, with Frederiksberg Boligfond, a nonprofit housing organization Frederiksberg Municipality established in 1930. After resistance by residents and questions about the purchase agreement's legality, Blackstone withdrew from it in October 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On December 1, 2022, Blackstone restricted withdrawals from its $125-billion real estate investment fund BREIT (Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust) due to a surge in redemption requests from investors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The move caused investor consternation and limited the ability to attract new capital for BREIT.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2024, Blackstone acquired a group of four retail buildings in Soho for approximately $200 million from ASB Real Estate Investments. This transaction marked the largest Manhattan retail deal by an investor in over three years, signaling a resurgence in the retail asset class. The properties, which house tenants such as Patagonia and Amiri, were purchased with the strategy of increasing revenue by bringing below-market leases up to current rates. The deal included buildings at 61 Crosby Street, 72-76 Greene Street, 465 Broadway, and 415 West Broadway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Marketable alternative asset management

In 1990, Blackstone created a fund of hedge funds business to manage internal assets for Blackstone and its senior managers. This business evolved into Blackstone's marketable alternative asset management segment, which was opened to institutional investors. Among the investments included in this segment are funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds.<ref name=BXS1 />

File:N113CS.jpg
Gulfstream G650ER jet owned by Blackstone

In March 2008, Blackstone acquired GSO Capital Partners, a credit-oriented alternative asset manager, for $620 million in cash and stock and up to $310 million through an earnout over the next five years based on earnings targets. The combined entity created one of the largest credit platforms in the alternative asset management business, with over $21 billion under management.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> GSO was founded in 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith, and Doug Ostrover. The GSO team had previously managed the leveraged finance businesses at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and later Credit Suisse First Boston, after it acquired DLJ. Blackstone was an original investor in GSO's funds. After the acquisition, Blackstone merged GSO's operations with its existing debt investment operations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=hedgerationalize />

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Illegal child labor

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that more than 100 American children had been working illegally for Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a slaughterhouse cleaning firm owned by Blackstone. The investigation began after a Walnut Middle School teacher in Grand Island, Nebraska, reported a student with hydrochloric acid burns on his hands and knees to the Department of Labor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Labor Department fined PSSI $15,138 for each minor who was employed in breach of the law, totaling $1.5 million in civil money penalties.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

Blackstone has invested in companies with links to the commercialization and deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.<ref name=Intercept-20190827>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Politico-20191216">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The key trends for Blackstone are (as of the financial year ending December 31)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year Revenue
in million USD 		Net income
in million USD 		Total assets
in million USD 		AUM
in million USD 		Employees
2009 1,774 (715) 9,409 1,295
2010 3,119 (370) 18,845 1,440
2011 3,253 (168) 21,909 1,585
2012 4,019 327 28,932 1,780
2013 6,613 219 29,679 2,010
2014 7,485 1,171 31,497 290,400 2,190
2015 4,647 1,585 22,526 336,400 2,060
2016 5,146 1,039 26,403 366,600 2,240
2017 7,145 1,471 34,416 434,100 2,360
2018 6,833 1,542 28,925 472,200 2,615
2019 7,338 2,050 32,586 571,100 2,905
2020 6,102 1,045 26,269 618,600 3,165
2021 22,577 5,857 41,196 880,900 3,795
2022 8,518 1,748 42,524 974,700 4,695
2023 8,023 1,391 40,288 1,040,200 4,735
2024 13,230 2,777 43,470 1,127,200 4,895

See also

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References

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