Blackstone Inc.

Blackstone Inc. was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman with seed capital of US$400,000. The name 'Blackstone' was derived from a cryptogram of their names, symbolizing 'black' and 'stone'.

In the aftermath of Black Monday, the October 1987 global stock market crash, Blackstone successfully completed fundraising for its first private equity fund. This event was crucial for the growth of Blackstone.

In 1988, Japanese bank Nikko Securities invested $100 million to acquire a 20% stake in Blackstone, valuing the firm at $500 million. This investment enabled Blackstone to significantly expand its operations.

In 1989, Blackstone partnered with Salomon Brothers to raise $600 million for the acquisition of distressed thrifts during the savings and loan crisis. This collaboration was significant for Blackstone's investment activities.

In 1990, Blackstone initiated its hedge funds business to manage investments for Blackstone senior management.

Blackstone and Silverman added Days Inns of America to their portfolio for $250 million in October 1991.

Roger C. Altman left Blackstone in 1992 to join the Clinton Administration as Deputy Treasury Secretary. He later went on to found advisory investment bank Evercore Partners in 1995.

Hospitality Franchise Systems, under Blackstone, purchased Super 8 Motels for $125 million in 1993.

In 1995, Blackstone sold its stake in BlackRock to PNC Financial Services for $250 million, a decision later regretted by Schwarzman.

Blackstone collaborated with the Loewen Group in 1996 to acquire funeral home and cemetery businesses, starting with the buyout of Prime Succession.

In 1997, Blackstone successfully raised funds for its third private equity fund, totaling approximately $4 billion in investor commitments.

Blackstone sold a 7% interest in its management company to AIG in 1998, valuing Blackstone at $2.1 billion.

Blackstone introduced its mezzanine capital business in 1999, led by Howard Gellis from Nomura Holding America's Leveraged Capital Group.

In October 2000, Blackstone purchased the mortgage for 7 World Trade Center from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

In July 2002, Blackstone successfully completed fundraising for a $6.45 billion private equity fund known as Blackstone Capital Partners IV, which was the largest private equity fund at that time.

At the end of 2002, Blackstone, along with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, acquired Houghton Mifflin Company for $1.28 billion, marking one of the first large club deals post the Dot-com bubble collapse.

Blackstone Group went public with its initial public offering (IPO) in 2004.

In 2005, Blackstone was part of a consortium of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard, valued at $11.3 billion, marking one of the largest leveraged buyouts since the 1980s.

Blackstone launched its long/short equity hedge fund business, Kailix Advisors, in 2006, which later managed $1.9 billion of assets under management.

On June 21, 2007, Blackstone became a public company through an initial public offering, selling a 12.3% stake for $4.13 billion, marking the largest U.S. IPO since 2002.

In January 2008, Blackstone made a small co-investment in the buyout of Harrah's Entertainment alongside TPG Capital and Apollo Management, amidst the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

In July 2008, Blackstone, NBC Universal, and Bain Capital acquired The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications for $3.5 billion, later selling its digital assets to IBM in 2015.

The market capitalization of Blackstone in the year 2010, calculated by multiplying the stock price by the number of shares outstanding.

In February 2011, Blackstone acquired Centro Properties Group US for $9.4 billion, leading to the formation of Brixmor Property Group and eventual sale of its remaining interest in 2016.

The purchase and subsequent IPO of Southern Cross by Blackstone led to controversy in the UK. The split of the business into a property company and a nursing home business faced criticism after Southern Cross faced financial difficulties in 2011.

In November 2011, a fund managed by Blackstone acquired medical biller Emdeon for $3 billion, expanding its investment portfolio.

In October 2012, Blackstone acquired G6 Hospitality, the operator of Motel 6 & Studio 6 motels, from AccorHotels for $1.9 billion, diversifying its hospitality investments.

In November 2012, Blackstone acquired a controlling interest in Vivint, Vivint Solar, and 2GIG Technologies, with 2GIG later being sold to Nortek Security & Control, LLC in February 2013.

In April 2013, Blackstone discussed the possibility of buying Dell but ultimately decided not to pursue the acquisition.

In June 2013, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII acquired an industrial portfolio from First Potomac Realty Trust for $241.5 million, including the development known as Oakville Triangle, now called National Landing.

In August 2013, Blackstone acquired Strategic Partners, a manager of secondary funds, from Credit Suisse.

In September 2013, Blackstone announced a strategic investment in ThoughtFocus Technologies LLC, an information technology service provider.

In February 2014, Blackstone purchased a 20% stake in the Italian luxury brand Versace for €150 million.

In April 2014, Blackstone's charitable arm, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, donated $4 million to establish the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network in Colorado, aiming to foster collaboration among local business leaders.

In May 2014, Blackstone Group acquired the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas resort from Deutsche Bank for $1.73 billion.

In August 2014, Blackstone Energy Partners acquired Shell Oil's 50% stake in a shale-gas field in the Haynesville Shale for $1.2 billion.

In January 2015, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI announced the sale of Gold Fields House in Sydney to Dalian Wanda Group for A$415 million.

In June 2015, Blackstone acquired the Willis Tower in Chicago for $1.3 billion.

In July 2015, Blackstone acquired Excel Trust, a real estate investment trust, for around $2 billion.

In November 2015, the company agreed to sell facility management firm GCA Services Group to Goldman Sachs and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

In January 2016, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. acquired BioMed Realty Trust for $8 billion.

In February 2016, Blackstone sold four office buildings to Douglas Emmett for $1.34 billion.

In April 2016, Blackstone acquired 84 percent of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's stake in the Indian IT services firm Mphasis.

On January 4, 2017, Blackstone acquired SESAC, a music-rights organization.

On February 10, 2017, Aon PLC agreed to sell its human resources outsourcing platform to Blackstone Group L.P. for $4.3 billion, forming Alight Solutions.

On June 19, 2017, Blackstone acquired a majority interest in The Office Group, valuing the company at $640 million.

In January 2018, the company announced an acquisition agreement for 55% of Thomson Reuters Financial & Risk unit for $20 billion.

In March 2018, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. acquired a 22 million square foot portfolio of industrial properties from Cabot Properties for $1.8 billion.

In August 2018, PSAV merged with Encore Global with the assistance of investment firm Blackstone.

In September 2018, the company acquired control of Luminor Bank in the Baltic countries.

In October 2018, Blackstone launched Refinitiv, a company resulting from its deal for a 55 percent stake in Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk business.

On July 15, 2019, Blackstone announced its plans to acquire Vungle Inc., a leading mobile performance marketing platform.

On November 8, 2019, Blackstone Group acquired a majority stake in MagicLab, the owner of the dating app Bumble.

On November 15, 2019, Blackstone Group invested $167 million in the holding company of Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd., Ryka Commercial Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

On November 18, 2019, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. acquired the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, from MGM Resorts in a sale-leaseback transaction.

On November 25, 2019, Blackstone planned to invest $400 million in a joint venture with Swiss drug company Ferring for gene therapy in bladder cancer.

In March 2020, Blackstone announced the acquisition of a majority stake in HealthEdge, a health-care software company, for $700 million.

In July 2020, Blackstone invested $200 million in the Swedish oat milk brand Oatly, acquiring a 7% stake in the company.

In August 2020, Blackstone announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion.

In December 2020, Blackstone invested nearly $400 million in Liftoff, a mobile advertising company.

On November 29, 2021, Blackstone stock achieved its highest closing price ever at $143.39.

On February 14, 2022, Crown Resorts accepted Blackstone's takeover offer of $6.6 billion for 90% of outstanding shares.

On December 1, 2022, Blackstone restricted withdrawals from its $125 billion real estate investment fund BREIT due to a surge in redemption requests, causing investor concerns and limiting new capital attraction.

In May 2023, Blackstone divested its stake in IBS Software to Apax for $450 million.

In June 2023, Blackstone acquired cloud-based event-software provider Cvent for $4.6 billion.

In October 2023, Blackstone, alongside Vista Equity Partners, announced the acquisition of Energy Exemplar for approximately $1.6 billion.

In November 2023, Blackstone acquired the UK-based software company Civica for approximately $2.5 billion.

In December 2023, Blackstone announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Sony Payment Services Inc. from Sony Bank.

The latest closing stock price for Blackstone on April 16, 2024, was $121.88.