Morning Money hears that at yesterday’s executive meeting, Blackstone chief Steve Schwarzman took a shot at former NEC Chair Larry Summers’ FT column calling for a number of actions to spur job growth, including expanding the payroll tax cut to employers. “I thought I was looking at a Saturday Night Live script,” Schwarzman said, according to our source. “Who was in charge the past two years?” [MM via BI]
Stephen Schwarzman
Steve Schwarzman Doesn’t Want To Pay Higher Taxes Any More Than He Wants To Make The Medicine Medicine Go Down Without Mary Poppins’ Help (But He Knows He Has To)
By Bess Levin“We’re in a situation that’s serious enough that almost everyone in society is going to have to give something up. No one is going to like it- it’s going to be like medicine in the old days, that just tasted really bad, but if you didn’t take your medicine, you weren’t going to get healthy…Everyone in this society is going to end up bearing some burden except the very poor who need to be protected. But I think this is a widespread issue where everyone is going to be giving something up, and if you don’t, you’re not going to be able to solve the problems we have. Nine percent of GDP is over $1 trillion per year- that is piling up. It is not really as much of an abstract concept. The more we do this, eventually we reach a point where the country has great difficulty preserving the livelihoods for people as they know it. It is really an issue that must be addressed.” Read more »
He hasn’t forgiven the President’s war crimes yet but this is progress. Read more »
Earlier this morning, Squawk on the Street had a little interview with Blackstone chief Stephen Schwarzman, live from Waldorf Astoria, where the Yale CEO Summit is taking place. The chat was conducted by Tyler Mathisen, with his colleagues patched in from the mothership in Englewood Cliffs. Everyone was very excited to have Steve-o on and things started off friendly enough. David Faber had a question about Dynegy. Erin Burnett wanted to know about investing opportunities abroad. And Mathisen and Schwarzman, whose firm owns the Waldorf, had a cute little repartee going about Steve delivering towels to Tyler’s room and leaving a mint on his pillow (given how game Schwarzman was to play along, and the diversity of the The ‘Stone’s companies, now might be a good time to nominate a certain someone as the next guest on Undercover Boss).
Then Mark Haines had something to say. Read more »
When one considers the many, many reasons to admire Stephen Schwarzman, difficulty arises in keeping the list to a manageable length. An abridged version, a mere fraction of his attributes, would include building Blackstone with own two hands, his support of literacy, his vision and execution in creating Yale’s first Ballet Society, his passion as it relates to the carried interest debate, on which he is not afraid to speak his mind, and his undying commitment to do right by clients.
Today another bullet point must be added, with regard to this: Read more »
Paul The Octopus Indirectly Helped Billionaire Financier And Noted Shell Fish Lover Go After His Associates
By Bess Levin
Earlier this week, it was sadly reported that Paul the Prognosticating Octopus, whose powers of prediction blew those of UBS and other investment banks out of the water, had passed away. Now that he’s dead, some people feel it necessary to dig up the past and make a mockery of his legacy. Starting with the fact that it was all a cheap trick.
Far from being a simple cephalopod that got lucky on a 256-1 chance of predicting eight two-option outcomes in a row (matches at the 2010 World Cup), it turns out Paul was / is a publicity stunt for a global entertainment conglomerate, the Merlin Entertainments Group (MEG)…Paul the Octopus, who provided colourful if inane fodder for umpteen news and broadcast organisations during the World Cup, especially those with no rights to any live action in South Africa, was also credited with predicting correct match results for Euro 2008 games. It should be stressed that, contrary to some reports, that was actually a different octopus, and that the different octopus got other results wrong, but such facts shouldn’t get in the way of a good story…Since [the summer Paul] has been relentlessly marketed as a brand to make cash.
And the sickest part? Is that one of the people he was making cash for was then turning around and using it to finance the murder of Paul’s compadres and distant relatives. Read more »
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Private Equity
Stephen Schwarzman Having Difficulty Forming An Opinion On Current Administration
By Bess Levin
President Obama and the business community have been at odds for months. But in July the chairman and cofounder of the Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private-equity firms, amped up the rhetoric. Stephen Schwarzman—the leading John McCain supporter in a firm that, in 2008, gave more money to Obama—was addressing board members of a nonprofit organization when he let loose. “It’s a war,” Schwarzman said of the struggle with the administration over increasing taxes on private-equity firms. “It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.” [Newsweek]
Confidential To Steve Schwarzman: Charlie Gasparino Thought The Food At Your Party Sucked
By Bess Levin
Charlie Gasparino recently participated in one of New York‘s dining features wherein notable people discuss what they ate over the course of the week. Those of you in the know re: the fuel that makes this Jabroni Pony will run not be surprised to hear that he consumed many a vodka martini, doused his meat in ketchup and affirmed his commitment to “staying regular” by downing a bunch of bran muffins. Unlike his last food diary, in which Gaspo confessed to finding no greater joy in the world that tearing into a plate of braciola while on the can, the Fox Business anchor kept it mostly clean, while sharing a few tips. Such as how to make gravy from scratch (“good Italian canned tomatoes, two cans of the whole tomatoes and one of crushed. I let it cook for about an hour and fifteen minutes, maybe an hour and a half”), indulging while keeping yourself in centerfold form (“I only eat desserts on the weekends”) and drinking like a man (“no respectable Russian will drink Grey Goose, they all drink Ketel One, because you want to taste the vodka. Now I can’t go back to Grey Goose, which is really super smooth, you can’t taste the vodka. If you’re gonna drink it, you gotta make it real”). Read more »
In January, Kendrick Wilson III joined BlackRock as a vice-chairman, which is why he’s the subject of a Bloomberg profile today. Forty some odd years ago, he was nicknamed “Wildcat” by his undergrad chums at Dartmouth, which is why he’s the basis for the lead character in an upcoming erotic novel about life in the Ivies. And 16 or so years ago, he was the peacemaker in a “shouting match” between Larry Fink and Stephen Schwarzman, which is what we’re going to investigate right now. Read more »
By now you’ve probably heard about the killer whale, Tilikum, that savagely murdered an SeaWorld employee today in front of a packed audience (according to a guest, the trainer was “thrashed around pretty good” and at one point, one of her shoes flew off). A devastating tragedy, and something that perhaps calls for an avenging. By whom? Stephen Schwarzman, ’cause Blackstone owns SeaWorld.
In 2007, birthday boy Stephen Schwarzman celebrated with a party that cost $1 trillion and included John Thain, Maria Bartiromo, Vernon Jordan, Bill Clinton, Rod Stewart and Patti LaBelle singing “Happy B’Day.” He’s scaled it back in the years since, preferring the simplicity of quiet celebrations at home, just him, wife Christine and the crabs. Sixty-three was set to be more of the same, with a quick bite to eat followed by a 7:30 showing of Valentine’s Day, the only trappings of diva-ness being SS’s plan to send a fleet of assistants several hours prior to rope off a couple of sections with caution tape to prevent the riff-raff from interrupting his viewing enjoyment. That was, until Haiti called. And when Haiti comes a’ knock’in, Steve Schwarzman answers. Rom-com, canceled. Dinner at the Sizzler, out. Lunch at home, in. Charity tennis match with John McEnroe et al, and the opportunity for Stephen “The Third Williams Sister” Schwarzman to help the earthquake victims while showing the “Adonis Effect” in action? So very in.
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Sponsored Content
SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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