Blackstone: Beyond Buyouts

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[00:02:35] - [First question] - What is Blackstone, its history, and what its scale is today

[00:04:29] - Their core competencies in the beginning and what it enabled them to do 

[00:05:57] - Examples of their early transactions that allowed them to grow their funds

[00:07:39] - First principles of how private equity funds make money

[00:09:49] - What has allowed Blackstone to grow so large over the last thirty-five years

[00:12:30] - Things that make alternative asset management a large and lucrative industry 

[00:14:28] - Overview of revenue streams and returns to shareholders

[00:17:30] - Analysis of their corporate private equity, real estate, hedge funds, and credit

[00:21:00] - Why alternative asset managers have been so attracted to insurance companies 

[00:22:40] - Partners Blackstone might find for funding and financing

[00:24:44] - Reasons why Blackstone would consider an IPO

[00:26:15] - How an investor would evaluate Blackstone versus Berkshire Hathaway

[00:29:17] - Ways Blackstone dispels the ‘barbarians at the gate’ stigma around private equity

[00:31:12] - The importance of Steve Schwarzman and thoughts on new leadership

[00:33:31] - Building a company culture in asset management that creates longevity

[00:35:42] - What makes Blackstone so successful writ large

[00:37:54] - Emergence of neo-banks and potential threats of regulation and oversight

[00:39:05] - The one thing that allows them to always find new opportunities and succeed

[00:41:03] - Lessons for investors when studying Blackstone’s story