What It Takes

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s late prime minister and one of the most astute observers of China, was asked shortly before his death in March 2015 if he thought China would eventually displace the United States as the dominant power in Asia. He was unequivocal: “Of course. Why not? How could they not aspire to be number one in Asia and in time the world

We then examined our decision making. For all our entrepreneurial strengths, our drive, our ambition, our skills, and our work ethic, we still weren’t building Blackstone into a great organization. Failures are often the best teachers in any organization. You must not bury your failures but talk about them openly and analyze what went wrong so you

They would rather be part of the herd, even when the herd is losing money, than make the hard decisions that yield the greatest rewards.

Blackstone is a remarkable success because of our culture. We believe in meritocracy and excellence, openness and integrity. And we work hard to hire only people who share those beliefs. We are fixated on managing risk and never losing money. We are strong believers in innovation and growth—constantly asking questions in order to anticipate events

The operational improvements that are implemented can range from greater efficiencies in manufacturing, energy utilization, and procurement; to new product lines and expansion into new markets; to upgraded technology;

To be successful you have to put yourself in situations and places you have no right being in. You shake your head and learn from your own stupidity. But through sheer will, you wear the world down, and it gives you what you want.

We decided to involve all of our senior partners in our discussions of investments. We would never again allow one person single-handedly to green-light a deal. During my career, I had gotten things more right than wrong, but Edgcomb had shown that I was far from infallible. My colleagues had decades of experience. By working together, arguing and

With Schwarzman Scholars, though, it didn’t matter if China was the most exciting country in the world, supplying 40 percent of the world’s growth.

When Schwarzman College was completed, Architectural Digest named it one of the nine best academic buildings in the world, the only one in Asia on the list.