David Haber

I think, you know, how did you think about joining a firm versus potentially starting your own?

And then, you know, we'll talk about kind of the trajectory of the business because it grew.

You know, people know Blackstone today, you know, a trillion dollars in AUM.

It did not look anything like that when you joined in 2002.

I think the firm was maybe $14 billion in total assets.

Something like that.

Which is, you know, shockingly, like, I don't know, a sixth of our size, which is, you know, kind of insane.

Again, maybe just give folks kind of a reminder of what was the shape of the business then, what businesses existed.

And, you know, we'll talk through kind of the 50-fold increase, I guess, you know, during your tenure.

I mean, people – again, one of the other kind of common threads that – I mean, literally everybody I spoke to highlights was that you were both –

an incredible investor and probably one of the best managers of like high, high potential talent and firm builders, you know, that they've seen.

It's a rare combination to have both.

You know, people talk about, you know, being in an IC meeting with you and you finding the, you know, the detail on page 16 that conflicts with the thesis on page 36 from six weeks ago and being able to hold kind of people accountable to that while also kind of seeing the bigger picture of the fund and the firm.

Yeah.

Well, I, I think, um,

Sure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but like, I think Blackstone by and large was more kind of consensus oriented, or at least the stories that I heard was that if there was a, you know, a tie, you would always back the deal team.

David Blitzer told this story.

Yeah.

You know, I think he was in London.