From PitchBook December 17, 2018
In a still from the video, Blackstone president Jon Gray explains how he will save the firm's annual holiday party.
Private equity executives don't typically have a reputation for their sense of humor. Look no further than The Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein's ill-fated attempt to make a rap video.
But that may change now that Blackstone's holiday video is making the rounds. Filmed like an episode of "The Office," the mockumentary was sent to employees last week in an email, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. The video begins with Blackstone president Jon Gray yelling at his secretary after hearing that the firm's annual holiday party had been canceled.
"Did you hear they canceled the holiday party?" Gray says. "Everyone in my conference room. Five minutes!"
Cue "The Office" theme song.
The ensuing scenes include an array of Blackstone execs dealing with the fallout from the cancellation, including Wayne Berman, reportedly on the shortlist to be Donald Trump's next chief of staff; Joseph Baratta, the firm's global head of private equity; and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, among other dealmakers.
"Not to be hard on Jon, but Tony and I never had this issue," Schwarzman says, referring to co-founder Tony James.
"Every great leader has a moment where they're facing the forces of evil," Gray concludes. "... So what do I do here with this crisis around the holiday party? We turn it into eight holiday parties. Brilliant."
"Typical. Only Jon can be the enemy of fun and still be loved," Baratta says.
Check out the full video here.
In real life, Blackstone did cancel its firm-wide holiday party this year because the firm has grown too large to find a venue that can hold the roughly 1,000 employees working in New York, a spokeswoman told Bloomberg, though the eight parties that Blackstone throws for its eight divisions were still on....MORE
