Key facts
- Stephen Schwarzman founded Blackstone with Peter Peterson in 1985.
- Blackstone manages over $1 trillion in assets.
- Schwarzman is chairman and CEO of Blackstone.
- Schwarzman's memoir was published in 2019.
Stephen Schwarzman, the founder and current chairman and CEO of Blackstone, prioritizes calls from his wife Christine, daughter Zibby, and the US President. Schwarzman co-founded the private equity firm Blackstone with Peter Peterson in 1985. Initially a boutique merger-and-acquisition advisory business, Blackstone has grown into the world's largest alternative asset manager, overseeing more than $1 trillion in assets. Peterson retired shortly after Blackstone's 2007 IPO, while Schwarzman continues to lead the company. Schwarzman began his career on Wall Street at Lehman Brothers and detailed management mistakes at the firm in his 2019 memoir. He started his first business, a lawn-mowing operation, at age 14.