King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone Paperback – February 7, 2012

Vibrant gold lettering set against the black and white of Grand Central Station catches the reader and brings a grand introduction to a well written, exhaustively researched and highly informative book by David Carey and John Morris. Though focused on Blackstone Group and its founders, Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, private equity, its growth and importance in the America's financial architecture for the last twenty-five years is the book's centerpiece. The authors are well versed in the language of private equity and take the time to explain the lingo and structure of many of the deals, Blackstone's mother's milk. Especially interesting is the Celanese AG take over and how this American firm's ingenious risk taking and financial legerdemain avoided the staid German corporate laws and brought about its rebirth in America. Tony James' hiring as the new and needed CEO demonstrated Schwarzman's ability and flexibility to allow the stage to be shared by others for the good of the company and its partners. Blackstone's IPO and its telling fascinates as well. Avoiding the gushing of many business writers who focus on Wall Street's limousine lifestyle, Carey and Morris focus on the business of private equity by dissecting the many deals, and, by doing so, justifying private equity's importance in this country's fortunes and future.

I purchased this book to better understand more about private equity (PE) after I purchased a position in Blackstone. The authors reveal (in this dry read for the layman) historically what happened behind the financial revolution and reveal how Blackstone and PE changed forever the game of financing and Wall Street.For the “Baby Boomer” the book takes you back to the mid-70s and testifies to the history of the Leverage Buy Out (LBO). It coalesces with companies, people, and tactics used to gain control of everyday companies. It appears this Merger and Acquisition (M&A) hostile takeover era sometimes has led to many corporate boards of today buying back their stock and consistently increasing dividends to keep shareholders satisfied. Additionally, it appears although the take-over wave of the 80s may have been ignored by many of us; the scandal of Drexel Burnham Lambert and the Milken junk bond adventures are remembered that led to his imprisonment.I read this book right after “The Smartest Guys in the Room” by McLean and Elkind and as that work this one is a thorough examination of another corporate finance subject, private equity. In fact the authors spend some time simply explaining terms even the difference between PE versus venture capitalist which I originally thought were the same. “The story of Blackstone parallels that of PE and its transformation from a niche game played by a handful of financial entrepreneurs and upstart firms into an established business of giant institutions backed by billions of public pension money, and other mainstays of the investment world.” This compelling look at this little understood Wall Street world assisted me in understanding my investment selection.

Love this book, very good read on leverage

This book is a fairly quick read that lays out the history of Blackstone and the origins of some of its spinoffs. Overall, I would say this book reads like a reporter's account of the facts of the situation. It does not have anywhere near the level of detail of an insider or someone that had intimate knowledge of the doings or workings of this firm. For that reason, i was a little disappointed with this book as it did not describe what has made this one of the great players in finance. Sure there is discussion of the leadership's obsessions with this or that and some color of the roles some of the senior players had in the direction of the firm, but I struggled to identify what was the critical element, other than the leadership's, or more specifically Schwartzman's, relentless pursuit of success that made this a great firm. It certainly appeared the author relied a great deal or was heavily influenced by Schwartzman's account and as such I was left wanting and believing as with so many other books written by reporters, not industry experts or insiders, that they lacked an understanding of the true dynamic within the organization. In the author's defense, there is a fair amount of criticism of the firm throughout the book. The most critical part revealed the culture of the firm which is described as a revolving door where talented individuals are not nurtured, but sooner or later get frustrated and trade away. Not too unusual on Wall Street, but the author describes this turnover as far more excessive than normal and given some of the talent that left, it is pretty hard to believe Blackstone has achieved all it has given some of these departures. Its a quick read that would be helpful to understand the firm if you are doing business with them, but this certainly would not qualify as a definitive account of this remarkable firm.

An exceptional book on Schwarzman and Blackstone. Yes, he's a billionaire and had a 60th birthday party that was over the top and defined the height of private equity. Yes, he had a running feud with Henry Kravis of KKR. But there is so much more about this great success story such as his background at Lehman as well as very unique relationship with founder Pete Peterson who currently spends great time and wealth drawing attention to the debt crisis in America.If you have a background in finance this is a great book but it's written simply enough that non finance people would understand the concepts and greatly enjoy the read also. Is he a great American or just a wealthy guy who stepped on toes to make it to the top? You read the book and decide.