Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman collected $896.7 million last year

By Dawn Lim

Blackstone Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman took home $896.7 million last year, a 30 per cent drop from a year earlier, yet still one of the biggest annual payouts on record in high finance. 

Schwarzman, 77, collected $777 million in dividends alone from his roughly 20 per cent stake in the alternative-asset manager, according to a regulatory filing Friday. He earned an additional $120 million mostly through incentive fees and the share of fund profits known as carried interest. He received a record $1.27 billion in 2022.

Blackstone slowed its pace of cashing out of deals last year, as would-be buyers stayed on the sidelines and high interest rates curbed valuations. That left dealmakers and executives with a smaller pool of profits tied to asset sales.

Meanwhile, the New York-based firm raised less from investors such as pension funds as many were more cautious about parting with cash. 

Schwarzman’s shareholdings and the dividends still cement him as one of the world’s richest people. His fortune is tied to the firm he co-founded. He has a net worth of $41.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Blackstone President Jon Gray, Schwarzman’s heir apparent, got $266.4 million in 2023, a decrease from $479.2 million a year earlier. He reaped $141 million from dividends tied to shares held as well as $125 million in salary, stock awards and other compensation. 

Bank CEOs

When accounting for the dividends, both men collect more than the CEOs of the biggest Wall Street banks, where compensation packages for top brass typically tally in the tens of millions.  

Schwarzman and Gray’s windfall underscores the clout of the private equity industry. Blackstone, like other buyout shops, has grown into a powerhouse that touches all aspects of the economy, lending to to businesses and financing infrastructure projects. 

Blackstone said in an emailed statement that its executives are paid based on how they perform for investors. “We have navigated a volatile period for markets for our clients,” the firm said.

In a muted year for the firm’s dealmakers and fund investors, shareholders still did well. 

The shares gained 83 per cent last year, including reinvested dividends, beating its biggest peers as well as the S&P 500, which returned 26 per cent. Blackstone became a member of the S&P 500 in 2023.