Following Blackstone's lead looks tough for firm's peers; Private equity outfit's buyout sets tempting target, but industry woes, backlash rise.(News)

Crain's New York Business, June, 2007

Byline: Aaron Elstein Last week, private equity firm Blackstone Group scored the most lucrative deal in its 22-year history, raising over $4 billion in a wildly successful initial public offering of its own shares. The deal, the largest IPO by a Wall Street firm since Goldman Sachs went public eight years ago, gave Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman a $900 million cash payday last Friday.

It also put the value of his remaining stake in the company at nearly $8 billion--slightly less than the gross domestic product of Honduras and more than that of 67 other countries. Mr. Schwarzman's windfall will certainly be long remembered, but following his example--as many others now hope to do--is suddenly looking a lot harder than it did only weeks ago. While the...

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