Blackstone (BX) CEO Schwarzman's 2017 Pay Raised By 85%

Stephen A. Schwarzman, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) , received $786 million as annual pay for 2017. The payout amount, disclosed by the private equity firm in a regulatory filing, reflects around a whopping 85% rise on a year-over-year basis and marks the highest annual pay ever awarded to a private equity executive.

Salary With Perks

Schwarzman holds around 20% of Blackstone’s stock, which earned him around $661 million in dividends during 2017. A strong performance aided by favorable market conditions, which boosted the investment values, thereby improving profitability, resulted in the company paying high dividends last year.

Moreover, the company awarded Schwarzman $125.5 million in executive compensation.

Further, Schwarzman invested around $196.6 million in Blackstone funds in the year. The rise in the CEO’s pay package did not come as a surprise, given the company’s sturdy performance throughout the year.

A Sneak Peek into 2017 Earnings

Blackstone reported 41% year-over-year growth in its economic net income (ENI (MI:ENI)) for 2017, driven by strong performance of the Real Estate and Private Equity segments. While the Real Estate segment benefited from the valuation gains on investments, the Private Equity segment gained from returns across all significant funds.

Also, the company impressed with its effective cost management and steady improvement in assets under management during the year. In addition, the company shelled out total distributions of $3.17 per share in 2017, further increasing investors’ confidence in the stock.

Notably, the company's share price appreciated roughly 18.5% in 2017 compared with 31.2% growth registered by the industry, following a 7.6% decline in 2016.

Our Viewpoint

Other private equity firms such as Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE:APO) , The Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ:CG) and KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR) also reported the annual payout of their senior executives in the firms’ regulatory filings. However, none of the CEOs or founders of these companies collected as much as Blackstone’s executive officer.

Currently, Blackstone carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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