How this Wall Street CEO made $1.6 billion last year

Blackstone chief executive officer Steve Schwarzman collected just over $US1 billion ($1.6 billion) in pay and dividends in 2024, putting the spotlight on the billionaire’s wealth just as Washington takes aim at how private equity profits are taxed.

Most of Schwarzman’s annual windfall came in dividends, not fund profits. He is the single largest holder of Blackstone stock with a stake of almost 20 per cent in the world’s largest alternative asset manager worth roughly $US37 billion, according to an annual filing.

Schwarzman took home about 11.5 per cent more than what he reaped in 2023 because of his $US916 million in dividends.

It’s a reminder of how the fortunes of Schwarzman, 78, are tied to Blackstone and its stock, even though heir-apparent and President Jon Gray is in charge of the day-to-day running of the firm.

Schwarzman earned $US83.7 million in incentive fees and the cut of profits from funds known as carried interest. While the amount fell from the prior year, it continues to dwarf his $US350,000 salary. Those profits have vaulted Schwarzman to one of Wall Street’s highest-paid CEOs, with a net worth of some $US51.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

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President Donald Trump has vowed to bring an end to the special status of carried interest, which is generally taxed at a lower rate than wages. It’s the latest salvo in a long-running fight over what critics call the billionaires’ loophole.

A politically connected Trump backer whose name gilds everything from the New York Public Library’s flagship complex to the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Schwarzman has staunchly defended carried interest through the years.

Today, Blackstone oversees $US1.1 trillion in assets. It is the largest commercial property manager, a giant lender and a force in buyouts. Earnings tied to fees and selling deals rose in 2024.