The World Economic Forum is the annual meeting of global tamperers where private equity underwriters (PEU) land en masse in private jets. The PEU boys have long attended to push their interests (greed), influence governmental figures in attendance and "do deals."
CNBC interviewed two PEU legends, David Rubenstein (The Carlyle Group) and Steven Schwarzman (Blackstone).
CNBC's Joe Kernan asked Rubenstein about private equity's preferred "carried interest" taxation at the end of the interview. Rubenstein said he does not mention it when meeting with U.S. Presidents. Nobody important talks about it.
Flashback to 2011 when Rubenstein said taxing PEU profits as income wouldn't amount to "serious money." Over the last thirteen years I imagine Rubenstein and Schwarzman made serious money thanks to their ongoing "carried interest" tax break (which is highly unpopular with the public).
Kernan's exchange with Schwarzman focused on attractive pricing for European real estate. Reporter Joe missed the #1 shared story on Bloomberg.
My wise friend steered me to these stories and offered comment:
Meanwhile Steve Schwarzman is in Davos talking about real estate deal values in Europe and how he has so much money to pursue great deals.. Yes Steve when you can walk away from your obligations there's always money to do new deals. What is Davos about this year? TRUST, how could anyone trust Steve?
Think of his hypocrisy as he speaks. It's mind blowing the Fed made him, the Fed empowered him, and now he calls the shots... he gets to walk away from obligations that no individual could do and he's presented with great opportunities ......what a meritocracy if people only understood
On Rubenstein he offered:
At the same time David Rubenstein is on the air talking about he never speaks to the president about carried interest and how carried interest is not a big revenue deal for the US government. And O NO Dave it is a big deal. That's why we created the CAYMAN Islands.
And Carlyle has hundreds of affiliates based in The Caymans.
Rubenstein and Schwarzman are in Davos yet again to craft the global system to their needs and desires. The sad thing is elected officials have catered to this group. The greed and leverage boys co opted government long ago. They work tirelessly behind the scenes for their greater share.
It's just another day at Davos. Beware the PEU private jet swarm.
Update 1-19-24: Seeking Alpha reported:
Citi analyst Christopher Allen downgraded Blackstone (NYSE:BX) and Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) stocks to Neutral from Buy on Friday on the view that current risk/rewards screen more balanced after taking into account last year's rallies.
Indeed, BX closed out 2023 72% higher, while CG posted a 35.7% climb, as seen in this chart. The S&P 500, by comparison, jumped 24.7%.
The Citi analyst favors KKR of all the publicly traded PEUs. Barron's reported:
In a Wednesday interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Stephen Schwarzman said BREIT weathered an environment of higher interest rates by avoiding areas of “real stress” in the real estate market.
He didn't mention pretend and extend. A different report noted:
Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman to a closed-door meeting of big investors and sovereign funds, where complaints about government policies — or lack thereof — ran thick: “Stop being professional victims. You can change things.”
They are the policy making billionaires.... shaping the world in their favor.
Update 1-20-24: Oxfam chronicled a decade of failure by the World Economic Forum to impact income inequality. Oxfam's interim director highlighted the impact of billionaires on taxation and global systems that have increased income inequality.
The WEF made it harder to search their 2024 program for private equity speakers/programs. The WEF is clearly a fan of the PEU boys.
Davos has ten years of backsliding on income inequality...why does Oxfam continue to attend? Making deals and influencing government representatives are why David Rubenstein and Stephen Schwarzman show up year after year.
In 2017 Rudy Haverstein posted the image below on Twitter (now X):
Update 1-21-24: The Guardian reported on an effort by the super-wealthy at Davos to increase taxes on this elite class of society for the many extra benefits they receive. They waited in long lines to exclusive Davos events, like the general public at Disney World. It's a small comfort, but a comfort just the same.
