Did Schwarzman Fuck the Whole Shit Up?



Steve's birthday celebration. (image via newyorkmag)

You are a gazillionaire, flying under the radar, commando-style, making the duckets, doing your thing, in, we cannot fail to note, a sweet tax bracket (The Corsair stifles a wolf-whistle). And then comes Steve Schwartzman's birtday party -- a study in excess -- the most disgusting display of conspicuous consumption in Western Civilization since Trimalchio's Feast (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). Damn. Now, after the fact, the Democrats -- who, no doubt, will win in '08 -- have your sweet tax bracket in their line of fire. Fuck Steve Schwartzman! From NewYorkMag:

"But if you talk to people in the private-equity business, they’re not so fatalistic about the historical trend lines. In fact, they’re even more inclined to scapegoat. For them, it’s personal. When I called a private-equity guy I know, he instantly snarled, 'It’s all Steve.' In other words, he blames the current anti-private-equity spasm not on whiny anti-business liberals, but on Steve Schwarzman, the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone. With Blackstone’s IPO a month ago, Schwarzman’s wealth ballooned to at least $10 billion, meaning he’s now one of the very richest New Yorkers, richer than Rupert Murdoch, Ron Perelman, and Michael Bloomberg—maybe the richest of all.

"'If my world is pissed off at anyone,' says my friend, 'it’s Steve. The fucking birthday party'—which he attended in February along with hundreds of other Schwarzman associates—'where no one gave a toast, by the way, not one.'"

And the thing that really burns us up, more than the bloated excess, more than Maria Bartiromo ... was that Rod Stewart was the main attraction (The Corsair shivers).