No one-- no one-- loves Blackstone Papa Bear Stephen Schwarzman like we do, so it was with great pleasure that we read the PR wonk job in today’s Journal about the little man. There’s the usual stuff that everyone knows (worked at Lehman, bought Equity Office Properties, has no immunity to chicken pox, threw himself a big birthday party), but a few new, interesting things were revealed. For instance, Schwarzman:
Hates hot food, eating slowly and the knowledge of the market value of shellfish:
He expects lunches consisting of cold soup, a cold entrée such as lobster salad or fresh grilled tuna on salad, followed by dessert, Mr. Zeugin says. He eats the three-course meal within 15 minutes, the chef says. Mr. Zeugin says he often spends $3,000 for a weekend of food for Mr. Schwarzman and his wife, including stone crabs that cost $400, or $40 per claw. (Mr. Schwarzman says he had no idea how much the crabs cost.) Recently, Mr. Zeugin has been ill and is no longer working, although he is still on Mr. Schwarzman's payroll.
Relishes in creating elaborate scenarios that no man, woman, dog or cat could perform, whether on the pitch, in the boardroom or in the bedroom.
Later, for intramural soccer games at Harvard Business School, he devised "elaborate triangular formations that were not flawed in conception but that nobody was capable of executing," says Jeffrey Rosen, Mr. Schwarzman's roommate and now a deputy chairman of investment bank Lazard Freres & Co.
Is Rain Man:
Mr. Schwarzman is exacting in his personal life too. Once, while sunning by the pool at his 11,000-square-foot home in Palm Beach, Fla., he complained to Jean-Pierre Zeugin, his executive chef and estate manager, that an employee wasn't wearing the proper black shoes with his uniform, according to Mr. Zeugin, who says he has great admiration for his boss. Mr. Schwarzman explains that he found the squeak of the rubber soles distracting.
(This Schwarzman, he's a bit of a nut. Someone told me he fired the last guy because his nose whistled when he breathed. Let's say it comes down to you and one other guy. He's got a nice pair of shoes, and you’re squeaking all over the place. Who do you think he's gonna hire?)
Posted by , Jun 13, 2007 12:49PM
ss is the man