Every partner on our investment committee needed to participate in assessing the risk factor of a proposed investment. In this way, the internal team presenting could not target the senior person at the table or lobby him or her for a positive decision. Everyone in attendance would share responsibility for whatever decision was made. And we made every decision in the same predictable manner. As we have added new businesses to Blackstone and ventured into new markets, we apply this same process to all our investment decisions. Everyone contributes to the discussion. Risk is systematically
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