Keep pulling the thread on Jon Gray.
In 2007, Blackstone acquired Hilton for $26 billion, a deal that included $20 billion in debt.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Blackstone wrote down its investment in Hilton by 71%, which was the largest investment in the firm's history at the time.
Blackstone invested an additional $800 million into Hilton at the bottom of the market during the financial crisis.
Blackstone ultimately generated a profit of $14 billion from its investment in Hilton.
Blackstone's flagship private credit fund, B-Credit, has over $80 billion in assets and provides senior loans to private equity-backed companies.
Blackstone's B-Credit fund has delivered an annualized return of over 10% since its inception six years ago.
Since Jon Gray became President and Chief Operating Officer in 2018, Blackstone's assets under management have nearly tripled to over $1.3 trillion.
According to a Bloomberg report, approximately 25 senior Blackstone employees invested around $100 million of their own money into the B-Credit fund in March to offset customer withdrawal requests.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, Hilton's revenue declined by 20% and its cash flow declined by 40%.
Blackstone has grown from a firm of 75 employees to one with more than 5,000 people.
Blackstone's investment strategy focuses on sectors with strong secular trends, such as logistics, data centers, semiconductor fabs, and energy.