What It Takes

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

You put in experienced operators you trusted to improve whatever you bought. And if all went well, the debt you put in place enhanced the rate of return on the value of your equity when the time came to sell.

The way to avoid this type of situation is to invest only when values have recovered at least 10 percent from their lows. Asset values tend to increase as economies gain momentum. It’s better to give up the first 10 to 15 percent of a market recovery to ensure that you are buying at the right time.

At Lehman, I had realized that I spent more time at the office than at home, so I wanted a beautiful environment. It made me feel happier. I wanted the same for everyone at Blackstone: warmth, elegance, simplicity, balance, and natural light pouring in from huge windows. When people come to a Blackstone office to work or for meetings, I want them t

The institution, the program, and the network we have built today was born out of my desperation and sheer will to make Schwarzman Scholars a reality and my refusal to accept anything but success.

But what I lacked in basic economics, I made up for with my ability to see patterns and develop new solutions and paradigms, and with the sheer will to turn my ideas into reality. Finance proved to be the means for me to learn about the world, form relationships, tackle significant challenges, and channel my ambition.

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

As I was sitting there, I began to feel dizzy, as if my whole body wanted to collapse. I felt I was failing on every count. I was overwhelmed by self-pity. Wall Street loves nothing more than watching other people fail. To see Pete and me, who had been so powerful at Lehman, so sure of our success, take a beating would have given many people pleasu

If you want something badly enough, you can find a way. You can create it out of nothing. And before you know it, there it is.