Davos Man

by Peter S. Goodman

In slashing the corporate tax rate, President Trump had enabled private equity players to ditch their previous structures as so-called partnerships—which had been set up to shield earnings from the tax collector—while converting themselves into ordinary corporations13. This had unlocked a lucrative world of new investors such as mutual funds. They had previously been shut out of investing in private equity because of the complex tax filings involved in dealing with partnerships. Blackstone’s conversion to a regular corporation had produced a surge of money. By the end of 2019, with Blackstone’s shares soaring, Schwarzman’s net worth14 had climbed to $19 billion, up from $13.2 billion only eight months earlier. Schwarzman had shared the windfall with the Republican leadership who had enabled it. McConnell’s primary fund-raising vehicle, the Senate Leadership Fund, was brimming with $20 million in contributions from Schwarzman alone.