(Bloomberg) - Steve Schwarzman’s early endorsement of Donald Trump is proving to be a canny wager.
The Blackstone Inc. (BX) chief’s pledge in May to “vote for change” and root for Trump marked a turning point for Schwarzman, who had previously distanced himself from the former president.
It also set him apart from high-profile business chiefs, including Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, who remained publicly neutral as Kamala Harris went up against one of the most divisive presidents in US history.
Now that Trump has pulled off a decisive comeback, Schwarzman’s latest shift gives him a powerful voice in the new administration.
Schwarzman has fielded calls from Howard Lutnick, the billionaire chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Trump’s transition team, who’s seeking recommendations for roles in the administration. Schwarzman’s name has even been floated for Treasury secretary, but it isn’t clear if he would take on such a role. It would likely call for him to sell the Blackstone shares behind his estimated more than $50 billion net worth and park the proceeds in a blind trust.
Even if Schwarzman advises Trump informally, Blackstone would have an opportunity to sway the administration’s stance on antitrust rules, trade policy and the tax code. Schwarzman has staunchly defended the preferential tax treatment for so-called carried interest, private equity executives’ share of deal profits. Across the industry, buyout firms are also eager for looser antitrust regulations and other policies that would further revive deals.
What’s clear: Blackstone came into the election well hedged. While Schwarzman, 77, donated more than $39 million to conservative causes during this election cycle, according to OpenSecrets, his 54-year-old heir-apparent, President Jon Gray, was a Democratic donor and supported Harris.
Either way, somebody at the top of the world’s largest alternative-asset manager would back the winner.
Executives at the firm have viewed divergent political leanings at the top as ultimately good for business, said people familiar with the matter. That’s especially true as the $1.1 trillion firm’s investor base has ballooned to pension funds and insurance firms across the US, sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf and elsewhere and, increasingly, affluent people around the country and globe.
In a particularly tense election year, Blackstone’s diverse viewpoints have also insulated it from accusations that it was pandering to Trump.
“I’m surprised public pensions haven’t been more outspoken about certain top private equity executives being so pro-Trump,” said Tom Byrne, a money manager, Democratic donor and former chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which supervises how the state’s pension fund is run. “But a number of these places are hedged in senior layers of management.”
Several Pivots
While Schwarzman ultimately backed Trump, the road to his endorsement took several twists.
The CEO declined to support any candidate in the 2016 Republican primary, when Hillary Clinton loomed large. After the election, Schwarzman chaired a council of influential CEOs advising the president. He later supported its dissolution after a public outcry over Trump’s response to violent clashes between “Unite the Right” rallyists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
That CEO rebellion marked a dramatic — even if brief — schism between the White House and corporate chieftains.
Still, Schwarzman continued to serve as a liaison between top officials in the Trump administration and foreign leaders, playing a role in trade talks that would lead to the rollback of some tariffs on China.
“Steve, I know you have no interest in this deal at all,” Trump said during a press conference announcing the Phase One trade deal with China, as it was known. “I’m surprised you’re not actually sitting over here on the ledge of the stage.”
In 2020, Schwarzman became Trump’s biggest champion in finance, accounting for the vast majority of Wall Street elites’ contributions to his campaign, a Bloomberg analysis showed at that time.
The long-time Republican then broke with Trump.
He expressed concerns about the Jan. 6, 2021 riots that ensued after Trump told supporters to march to the Capitol. In 2022, he called for a “new generation” of Republican leaders.
Months after Trump secured the nomination, Schwarzman pivoted again.
“The dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency,” he said in his May endorsement. “I share the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction.”
Schwarzman’s acquaintances expected that he would back the Republican candidate he saw as most likely to win. He told associates that Biden’s policies were veering further left than he expected, and he was concerned about a lack of checks and balances on one party.
'Purple Environments'
Blackstone — founded by Schwarzman and another Republican, Pete Peterson, a Commerce secretary under Richard Nixon — has a history of Democratic leaders, too. When Democratic donor Tony James was the CEO’s top lieutenant, Schwarzman made friendly jabs about his No. 2’s politics at Blackstone staff meetings, said people familiar with the matter. James told associates it was important for him personally to voice his political position, and that it rounded out the views in Blackstone’s highest ranks.
Despite his own Democratic leanings, Gray was under consideration for Treasury secretary after Trump’s first election in 2016. Gray was Blackstone’s real estate chief at that time, a point of connection for a president with a history as a property developer.
Gray stayed on at Blackstone and was elevated to president in 2018. The long-time Democrat, who’s also a billionaire, avoids airing his political views in public, hewing to the image of a corporate boss.
“The good news for us as a firm: We’ve operated in blue environments, red environments, purple environments,” Gray said in a Bloomberg TV interview last month. “I feel confident regardless of who wins we’ll do a great job for our investors.”
Still, he’s part of a group including Evercore Inc. founder Roger Altman, who served in the Clinton and Carter administrations, and Centerview Partners’ Blair Effron that has fielded calls from Harris allies on policy. The three men hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden, before Gray joined the chorus of donors warning of the toll a second term could take on the 81-year-old. On election night, Gray attended a Democratic watch party hosted by Altman and Effron at Manhattan steakhouse Aretsky’s Patroon.
'Sophisticated Approach'
Blackstone continues to hire executives with connections to both parties. This year, the firm brought on Tom Nides, Biden’s former ambassador to Israel and a long-time Democratic insider who had been floated by Harris allies as a possible White House chief of staff.
Wayne Berman, Blackstone head of government affairs, and George H.W. Bush’s former assistant secretary of commerce, has been with the firm for roughly 12 years and has deep ties to the Republican machinery. He also runs a team that includes a former senior aide to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Berman wrongly predicted Trump would win in 2020, said people familiar with his forecasts. Going into the latest election, he told people that Trump would win. He predicted that the Senate would remain in Republican hands, and that the House would fall under Democrats’ control.
“Increasingly, more top firms have covered all their bases in Washington,” said James Maloney, managing partner of regulatory consulting firm Tiger Hill Partners.
Washington policies are having a bigger effect on private equity’s portfolio companies, leading to “a more sophisticated approach in how firms engage across the board on public policy,” he added.
By Dawn Lim
With assistance from Todd Gillespie and Kara Wetzel
