Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman Receives More Than $1B In 2022: How He Generated So Much Income

Blackstone Inc BX CEO Steve Schwarzman, the head of the largest private equity firm on the planet, received record income in 2022. 

Schwarzman took home more than $1.27 billion last year in compensation and dividends, reports Bloomberg. 

He received nearly $1 billion in dividends and $253.1 million in compensation. 

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, his net worth is $30.6 billion. 

Schwarzman owns 20% of Blackstone shares and is now one of Wall Street’s highest earners. 

“I own a lot of stock, and I invest in all of our funds, so the firm is my family office,” Bloomberg quoted Schwarzman as saying. 

Meanwhile, Blackstone President Jon Gray received $479.2 million as income in 2022. That included $182.7 million from dividends tied to a roughly 3% stake in the firm. That is an increase from the prior year, per Bloomberg. 

“Blackstone has a performance-driven compensation model built on long-term alignment with our investors,” Blackstone’s spokesman said in a statement. 

The spokesman said the firm delivered record distributable earnings and realized some of its most profitable fund investments last year.

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In 2022, the company’s shares were hit hard after Blackstone limited investor redemptions from a $71 billion real estate fund, reports the Financial Times.  

According to the report, investors pulled money due to concerns about the long-term health of the property market and a need to raise cash.

However, despite Blackstone’s volatile conditions, its profitability helped its top executives take home hefty incomes.  

“Significant portions of our most senior executives’ listed compensation relate to 2021 performance that, due to the timing of awards, was paid the following year,” FT quoted Blackstone saying. 

The company added that incentive-based pay came from the first half of 2022, when the firm recorded “the highest period for realizations in our history,” referring to asset sales.

Blackstone has outperformed the market over the past 15 years by 5.0% annually, producing an average annual return of 12.51%. 

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