with blackrock inc an investment management firm . this section uses citations that link to broken or outdated sources . please improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page . help on using footnotes is available . december 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the blackstone group l.p. type public traded as nyse bx industry financial services founded 1985 ; 31 years ago 1985 founder peter george peterson stephen a. schwarzman headquarters 345 park avenue manhattan new york city new york united states key people stephen a. schwarzman chairman and ceo hamilton e. james president & coo j. tomilson hill vice chairman jonathan d. gray global head of real estate products private equity investment banking investment management asset management revenue us 7.484 billion 2014 net income us 1.584 billion 2014 aum us 311 billion 2015 1 2 total assets us 31.510 billion 2014 number of employees 2 190 2014 website www.blackstone.com the blackstone group l.p. is an american multinational private equity investment banking alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in new york city . as the largest alternative investment firm in the world 3 blackstone specializes in private equity credit and hedge fund investment strategies as well as financial advisory services such as mergers and acquisitions m & a restructurings and reorganizations and private placements . 4 blackstone s private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyout transactions over the last decade while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate . since its inception blackstone has completed investments in such notable companies as hilton worldwide merlin entertainments group equity office properties republic services alliedbarton united biscuits freescale semiconductor vivint 5 and travelport . 6 blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by peter g. peterson and stephen a. schwarzman who had previously worked together at lehman brothers kuhn loeb inc. over the course of two decades blackstone has evolved into one of the world s largest private equity investment firms . 3 in 2007 blackstone completed a 4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on a public exchange . 7 8 blackstone is headquartered at 345 park avenue in manhattan new york city with eight additional offices in the united states as well as offices in london paris d sseldorf sydney tokyo hong kong singapore beijing shanghai madrid mumbai and dubai . 9 contents 1 business segments 1.1 corporate private equity 1.2 real estate 1.3 marketable alternative asset management 1.4 financial advisory services 2 history 2.1 founding and early history 2.2 1990s 2.3 early 2000s 2.4 buyout boom 2005 2007 2.5 initial public offering in 2007 2.6 2008 to 2010 2.7 investments since 2011 3 self dealing 4 see also 5 references 6 external links business segments edit blackstone is organized into four business segments 10 corporate private equity management of blackstone s family of private equity funds investing in leveraged buyout transactions ; investment banking and financial advisory includes blackstone s mergers and acquisitions advisory services restructuring and reorganization advisory services and fund placement services for alternative investment funds ; marketable alternative asset management management of blackstone s funds of hedge funds mezzanine funds senior debt vehicles and closed end mutual funds ; real estate management of blackstone s family of real estate investment funds . corporate private equity edit as of 2011 update blackstone is the world s fifth largest private equity firm by committed capital focusing primarily on leveraged buyouts of more mature companies . 7 the firm also invests through minority investments corporate partnerships and industry consolidations and occasionally start up investments in new entrants into existing industries . the firm focuses on friendly investments in large capitalization companies . 10 blackstone s private equity business employs approximately 120 investment employees in new york city ; london ; menlo park california ; mumbai ; hong kong ; and beijing . 6 historically blackstone has primarily relied on private equity funds pools of committed capital from pension funds insurance companies endowments fund of funds high net worth individuals sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors . 11 as of the end of 2008 blackstone had completed fundraising for six funds with total investor commitments of over 36 billion including five traditional private equity fund and a separate fund focusing on telecommunications investments . below is a summary of blackstone s private equity funds raised from its inception through the beginning of 2009 12 fund vintage year committed capital b blackstone capital partners i 1987 0.8 blackstone capital partners ii 1994 1.27 blackstone capital partners iii 1997 3.78 blackstone communications partners i 2000 2.02 blackstone capital partners iv 2003 6.45 blackstone capital partners v 2006 21.7 blackstone capital partners vi 2010 13.5 from 1987 to the time of its ipo filing in 2007 blackstone invested approximately 20 billion in capital in 109 private equity transactions . 10 blackstone s most notable investments include allied waste 13 alliedbarton security services graham packaging celanese nalco healthmarkets houghton mifflin american axle trw automotive catalent pharma solutions prime hospitality legoland madame tussauds 14 luxury resorts lxr pinnacle foods hilton hotels corporation apria healthcare travelport the weather channel united states and the portaventura resort . in 2009 blackstone purchased busch entertainment comprising the sea world parks busch garden parks and the 2 water parks . 15 in 2012 blackstone acquired a controlling interest in utah based vivint inc. a home automation security and energy company . 16 former notable investments include universal studios parks which was sold to comcast . real estate edit blackstone began building its real estate investment business in 1992 with the acquisition of a series of hotel businesses and has built it into a global operation with 122 investment professionals in the united states europe and asia . the real estate business has raised approximately 28 billion for a variety of fund vehicles including six us focused funds and three international opportunity funds . blackstone also raised a real estate special situations fund focusing on non controlling debt and equity investment opportunities . the special situations fund invests directly in real estate as well as private and publicly traded real estate related securities . 10 17 the following is a summary of blackstone s real estate funds raised from inception through november 2009 12 fund vintage year committed capital b blackstone real estate partners i 1994 0.48 blackstone real estate partners ii 1996 1.3 blackstone real estate partners iii 1999 1.5 blackstone real estate partners international europe 2001 0.8 blackstone real estate partners iv 2003 2.5 blackstone real estate partners international europe ii 2006 1.55 blackstone real estate partners v 2006 5.25 blackstone real estate partners vi 2007 10.9 blackstone real estate special situations pe fund 2008 1.0 blackstone real estate partners europe iii 2009 3.1 from 1987 through the time of its ipo filing in 2007 blackstone invested more than 13 billion in 212 real estate transactions and is a major owner of real estate throughout the us and europe . 10 blackstone s most notable real estate investments have included equity office properties hilton hotels corporation trizec properties center parcs uk la quinta inns & suites motel 6 wyndham worldwide southern cross healthcare and vicinity centres . 18 the purchase and subsequent profitable ipo of southern cross led to controversy in the uk . part of the purchase involved splitting the business into a property company nhp and a care home business which blackstone claimed would become the leading company in the elderly care market . in may 2011 southern cross now independent was almost bankrupt jeopardising 31 000 elderly residents in 750 care homes . it denied blame although blackstone was widely accused in the media for selling on the company with an unsustainable business model and crippled with an impossible sale and leaseback strategy . 19 20 after the subprime mortgage crisis blackstone group lp has bought more than 5.5 billion single family homes for rent to be sold when the prices rise . 21 blackstone has agreed to sell a selection of northern california office buildings for the sum of 3.5 billion in the latest sale of real estate by the firm . 22 marketable alternative asset management edit main article gso capital partners in 1990 blackstone created a fund of hedge funds business to manage the internal assets for blackstone and its senior managers . over the years this business evolved into blackstone s marketable alternative asset management segment which was opened to institutional investors . among the investments included in this segment are funds of hedge funds mezzanine funds senior debt vehicles proprietary hedge funds and closed end mutual funds . 10 in march 2008 blackstone acquired gso capital partners a credit oriented alternative asset manager for 620 million in cash and stock and up to 310 million through an earnout over the next five years based on certain earnings targets . the combination of blackstone and gso created one of the largest credit platforms in the alternative asset management business with over 21 billion of total assets under management . 23 gso was founded in 2005 by bennett goodman tripp smith and doug ostrover . the gso team had previously managed the leveraged finance businesses at donaldson lufkin & jenrette and later credit suisse first boston after the acquisition of dlj . blackstone had existing relationships with the gso team as an original investor in gso s funds . following the completion of the acquisition blackstone merged gso s operations with its existing debt investment operations . 24 25 financial advisory services edit blackstone s financial advisory business is composed of three businesses 10 corporate and mergers and acquisitions advisory restructuring & reorganization advisory private placement advisory blackstone was originally founded by peterson and schwarzman in 1985 as a boutique investment banking firm that provides mergers and acquisitions advisory services . among blackstone s most notable corporate and mergers and acquisitions advisory clients include microsoft procter & gamble verizon comcast sony and aig . 26 27 in 1991 with the collapse of the 1980s buyout boom blackstone began to offer advisory services in corporate restructurings as well . blackstone s most notable restructuring clients have included general motors 28 xerox enron 29 bally total fitness and global crossing . blackstone s fund placement advisory group the park hill group was formed in 2005 with a team of professionals from atlantic pacific capital and credit suisse . the group focuses on raising capital from institutional investors for private investment vehicles that invest in private equity mezzanine real estate venture capital and hedge funds . 30 park hill group also provides secondary advisory services to investors seeking portfolio liquidity and unfunded commitment relief . 31 in 2006 john studzinski joined the blackstone group as the senior managing director in its investment and advisory group and as a member of the firm s executive committee . 32 33 he was recruited to oversee and develop blackstone s mergers and acquisitions advisory business blackstone advisory partners in the united states and europe and to open an office in london . 33 34 his primary role as global head of blackstone advisory partners was to oversee blackstone s corporate m & a advisory services business in the u.s. and further develop the corporate m & a advisory business in europe and asia . 35 36 in early 2015 blackstone began spinning off three of its divisions including its m & a advisory group to avoid any potential conflicts of interest with its primary private equity business . 37 38 39 after assisting with the transition 40 studzinski became vice chairman of investor relations and business development at the blackstone group . 41 42 in this capacity he holds responsibility for a number of sovereign and international institutional relationships as well as ultra high net worth families outside the u.s. 41