Happy holidays from the world's largest asset manager

Today Blackstone CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman, took to LinkedIn to post his firm’s 2022 holiday video.

The 2022 production explores the question, “What is Blackstone’s Secret”?

It opens with a staggering fact, that the firm is on the cusp of reaching the $1 trillion assets under management milestone.

When Mr. Schwarzman first started The Blackstone Group in 1985 with Peter Peterson, it was said he was branching out on his own in true fiduciary-managment style; that is, he didn’t like the transparency, or lack thereof, the big asset managers of the day provided. He wanted to give clients a better option.

What it’s like to be an investment banking associate or corporate banking analyst in 2022, I do not know. That said, I know the roles continue to average 90 hours a work week and the “there is always someone younger, smarter, more driven, that will take less money vying for your role” culture continues to ring true.

Sure, the video is self-serving. We are the biggest, the smartest, we have the most fun, and look, we even know how to poke fun at ourselves.

But it’s catchy. It opens with a few bars from The Office’s opening and the product placement from Headspace, Jenga, Blippi, and even Hotwire, an Expedia brand.

Personally, I loved the 6 train and business casual jokes. I can relate to both from my NYC financial services industry days.

My shoutout today is to Courtney della Cava, Blackstone’s Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Portfolio Talent and Organizational Performance.

Your people are performing, it takes a lot to get to a million million, and it looks like your team enjoys one another’s company.