Tycoon Shocks With 'noodle Salesman in Nagasaki' Comment
The Blackstone private equity tycoon Stephen Schwarzman has shocked investors by comparing the failure of a buyout deal to the devastation wreaked by atomic bombs in Japan
The Blackstone private equity tycoon Stephen Schwarzman has shocked investors in Florida by comparing the failure of a buyout deal to the devastation wreaked by atomic bombs in Japan at the end of the second world war.
Explaining Blackstone's unsuccessful attempt to buy a mortgage firm, PHH, for $1.7bn (£872m) at the height of last year's volatility on the financial markets, Schwarzman said: "No one in the world would lend us money. It is the first time we haven't performed."
Warming to his theme, the billionaire continued: "Trying to buy a mortgage bank in the midst of the sub-prime crisis was the equivalent of being a noodle salesman in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb went off. Not a lot of noodles left or even a person - that's what happened to us on this deal."
His remarks, at a meeting in Boca Raton, were picked up by an industry newsletter, Private Equity Insider, which pointed out that Blackstone recently opened an office in Tokyo in the hope of expanding its presence in Japan.
A spokesman at Blackstone's New York headquarters declined to comment.
A colourful figure, Schwarzman has a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $6.5bn. He celebrated his sixtieth birthday last year with a $3m party for New York bigwigs which featured a private performance by Rod Stewart.
Blackstone has more than $31bn of private equity assets under management. Its businesses include Hilton Hotels, United Biscuits, Equity Office Properties and Madame Tussauds.
Explaining Blackstone's unsuccessful attempt to buy a mortgage firm, PHH, for $1.7bn (£872m) at the height of last year's volatility on the financial markets, Schwarzman said: "No one in the world would lend us money. It is the first time we haven't performed."
Warming to his theme, the billionaire continued: "Trying to buy a mortgage bank in the midst of the sub-prime crisis was the equivalent of being a noodle salesman in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb went off. Not a lot of noodles left or even a person - that's what happened to us on this deal."
His remarks, at a meeting in Boca Raton, were picked up by an industry newsletter, Private Equity Insider, which pointed out that Blackstone recently opened an office in Tokyo in the hope of expanding its presence in Japan.
A spokesman at Blackstone's New York headquarters declined to comment.
A colourful figure, Schwarzman has a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $6.5bn. He celebrated his sixtieth birthday last year with a $3m party for New York bigwigs which featured a private performance by Rod Stewart.
Blackstone has more than $31bn of private equity assets under management. Its businesses include Hilton Hotels, United Biscuits, Equity Office Properties and Madame Tussauds.
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