Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Blackstone's Fantastic News


Two news stories featured Blackstone, the giant private equity underwriter (PEU) founded by Stephen Schwarzman and Pete Peterson.  The first involved a Blackstone Senior Managing Director in their private equity unit.  FinAlternatives reported:

Anjan Mukherjee has left Blackstone and joined the U.S. Treasury Department as counselor to the secretary and deputy assistant secretary for financial institutions.

In his new role, Mukherjee will advise Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. In a memo to employees, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said that Mukherjee was “a core member of the private-equity team. ”
Mukherjee appears to be both a political and financial animal:

Following several roles at Morgan Stanley, he joined the Department of Education during the Clinton administration. He joined Blackstone in 2001, but also worked in the transition team of President Barack Obama, where he focused on economics and international trade matters. 
What might a PEU do for the Blue Treasury team?  Help his former boss get richer while raising political money from his PEU brethren for the Blue team.  How might Mukjerjee

...make Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman the first leader of a public company to be paid more than $1 billion in a single year

I have faith our elected and appointed officials can optimize billionaire pay.  Politicians Red and Blue love PEU.