Private equity riches

Everybody knew that the founders of Blackstone, the private equity group, were wealthy people. But the information revealed in the SEC filing ahead of the firm's $7 bn plus IPO has even the millionaires on Wall Street salivating. The figures are revealed in an FT story.

• Co-founder Steve Schwarzman made $400 mn last year and can expect to make upto $677 mn from the sale of a 5% stake in the coming IPO. His remaining 23% stake would be worth $7 bn.
• The other co-founder Pete Peterson stands to rake in $1.88 bn by selling his 60% stake in the IPO.

Figures such as these bound to fuel controversy over executive pay. Critics will condemn managerial greed. Votaries of big pay packets will say that this is the sort of incentive that fetches performance, so public companies should match private equity pay!