Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, the co-founders of Blackstone, a recently made public buy-out firm, have found a little bit of cash under their couch. The 2 picked up $2.6 billion by selling just PART of the their Blackstone stake during their firm’s recent IPO. They’ll have to pay about $400 million in capital gains taxes, but hey, $2.2 billion in after tax proceeds isn’t bad at all.
Smart. Smart. Smart.
So what do you do if you’re “in the business” and have a $400 tax bill to pay? - Give up?
Send the funds to Blackstone Group LP, the beneficiary and new company set up as a tax shelter, the shareholders should appreciated this windfall of value coming their way.
I am invested in a fund that is managed by one of Blackstone’s fund managers, it’s called The India Fund (IFN) and it has enjoyed some nice returns over the last year and half. While the stock has traded sideways, there have been some nice buy and sell points that I’ve taken advantage of and the stock pays a very healthy 10% dividend.
Leave a Reply