How Did Kendrick Wilson III "Soothe" Stephen Schwarzman's "Bruised Feelings"?
In January, Kendrick Wilson III joined BlackRock as a vice-chairman, which is why he's the subject of a Bloombergprofile 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.
It was 1994 and Fink was struggling to persuade Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s CEO, to sell Fink’s asset-management business, BlackRock Inc., so he could raise capital to fuel growth. Schwarzman was balking, and after some emotional battles, Fink said, he turned the talks over to Wilson, a Lazard Freres & Co. banker. Wilson soothed the bruised feelings and found a buyer for Blackstone’s 100 percent stake.
But how? Billionaires a fickle bunch, and what's Schwarzman gonna do? Suddenly feel okay about the whole thing because this guy Wilson strokes his hair and makes him some chamomile tea? SAS is a shrewd businessman and he's not just going to roll over and take it because someone speaks to him in a soft voice and tells him everyone appreciates all the work he does. You're going to have to do a lot better than that and you're going to have to do it by plying him with a few of his favorite things. So. Was it:
a) The promise of the best crab meat money could buy
b) Dinner and a viewing of Baby Boom with director Nancy Meyers.
c) You tell us.
