Blackstone founder took home $610m during the pandemic
Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman’s salary swelled 20 per cent last year as he took home $610m from dividends and compensation.
The majority of the pay package stemmed from Schwarzman’s 19.3 per cent stake in Blackstone after the firm’s distributable earnings jumped 16 per cent year-on-year.
The private equity boss received $86m in compensation with $524m in dividends from the stake, according to US regulatory filings.
His current net worth is estimated by Forbes at $22.3bn.
Schwarzman’s second-in-command Jonathan Gray pocketed at least $216.1m last year, of which $92.8m came from dividends.
Apollo Global Management chair Leon Black, who recently announced he was stepping down as chief executive following an investigation of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, took home at least $185.2m last year, according to another regulatory filing.
Some $182.3m of this came from his personal investments in Apolo’s funds and pocketing $423,687 in compensation.
Black’s successor Marc Rowan collected $72.3m in dividends and $20.3m in distributions from his fund investments. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $3.9bn.
Fellow private equity bosses Henry Kravis and George Roberts, co-founders and co-chiefs of KKR were paid $81.3m and $85.4m respectively, largely from their holdings in the firm.
The firms will undoubtedly face criticism as unemployment reaches new highs and the global economy continues to deal with the impact of the pandemic.
It comes a day after it was revealed hedge fund tycoon Sir Chris Hohn paid himself £343m ($479m) last year after his Children’s Investmetn Fund reported pre-tax profit of $695m.