Inside the Blackstone IPO

Private equity has grown fat on critiquing the operation of public companies. The Blackstone IPO offers a rare opportunity to turn the tables.  

As part of its filing with the SEC, Blackstone issued a 200 page document that reveals many of the firm's business details for the first time: earnings of $2.27 billion last year, more than $2 billion in group earnings from investors' capital, and fees topping $1 billion. However, the filing is also notable for what it does not reveal: compensation packages for co-founders Stephen Schwarzman and Peter Peterson, how many shares Blackstone intends to sell or for how much, and how many shares existing managing directors and other employees will own after the offering. 

Labour unions in the US and the UK have been at the forefront of efforts to expose the inner workings of the private equity industry. Having already notched up some success with traditional media campaigns and behind-the-scenes political lobbying, they’re now ready to take the message to the blogosphere.   

The US-based Service Employees International Union is first out of the blocks with a new blog, Inside the Blackstone IPO. Enigmatic poster Who Profits? says the blog will keep tabs on Blackstone’s future regulatory filings to determine to what extent this IPO will benefit those who purchase the stock well as its impact on Blackstone's existing limited partners and on the hundreds of thousands of people employed in Blackstone-controlled companies.