, Columnist
Steve Schwarzman Explains Why He Counsels Trump
The private-equity titan responded in an e-mail to criticism of his decision to head a White House business council.
Advice and consent.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Two months before the presidential election, 110 young men and women, most just a few years out of college, gathered at the new Schwarzman College in Beijing -- a part of Tsinghua University -- to begin a year as Schwarzman Scholars. They came from all over -- Romania, Mongolia, Zimbabwe -- though with a heavy emphasis on Chinese and Americans.
You will not be surprised to learn that the Schwarzman who built the college and began the scholars program is Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chairman and chief executive of the Blackstone Group, one of biggest and best-known private equity firms in the world. Schwarzman has spent $100 million on the program -- and raised an additional $350 million -- for several reasons.