While many investors are panicking, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman says the recent market plunge presents a tremendous opportunity for the private equity giant.
Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Schwarzman says when people panic or become very emotional, "we try to take a very objective look at things.”
Despite tanking oil prices and China's economic slowdown, Schwarzman says he doesn't think a financial collapse is coming. But even if it did, capitalizing on turmoil has been a Blackstone specialty for the past 30 years.
During the last recession, Blackstone bought a series of REITs and took them private—including Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties for $36B, the biggest real estate transaction ever at the time.
At $334B, the asset manager has almost quadrupled what it managed at its 2007 IPO and routinely outperforms the S&P 500. [WSJ]
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