What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

by Stephen A. Schwarzman

Starting in 2013, Tony had begun to involve Jon Gray in the management discussions involving the entire firm. Jon had grown up in Chicago, where his father ran a small auto parts maker and his mother a catering company. He went to public school and was an enthusiastic basketball player—so enthusiastic, in fact, that during one season in high school, he sat on the bench while his team went 1–23. It was a lesson in commitment, humility, and having a sense of humor. He had joined us from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992, where he had received one bachelor’s degree in English and one in finance from Wharton. During his final year, he received his offer to join Blackstone and also met his future wife, Mindy, in a class on romantic poetry. He has been with both of us ever since. Jon’s character and values, forged out of his middle-class, midwestern upbringing, were obvious to us early in his career. Once, when he was still a junior analyst, he had waded into a fierce argument between senior partners over the fees we had to pay our lawyers and brokers on a particular deal. He asked, “Why are we trying to beat these guys up? We work with them all the time, and chances are we’re going to work with them a lot more in years to come. Why not treat them well?” That Wall Street had always worked this way in the past didn’t mean it had to continue. Jon was thinking long term, about his own relationships and the reputation of the firm. He loved the personalities in real estate and t...