Stephen Schwarzman, the founder of Blackstone Group, received record income of nearly $1.3bn in 2022, as assets under management and profits rose at the world’s largest private equity firm.
Schwarzman’s haul came mostly from more than $1bn in dividend payments due to his ownership of nearly 20 per cent of the private equity group’s shares. In addition, he earned $190mn in “carried interest” pay as Blackstone completed the sale of assets, most of which were arranged before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and rising interest rates sent equity markets into a tailspin.
Bolstered by Blackstone’s rising dividend, Schwarzman’s income surpassed by 15 per cent the $1.1bn the chief executive received in 2021, even as a 42 per cent decline in Blackstone shares cut the value of his holdings by more than $12bn.