BlackstoneSchwarzman, the group's chief executive, said the risk of an increase in capital gains tax in the US led business owners to cash out before the law changed, leading to an explosion in the number of potential targets for Blackstone's alternative investment companies.
"now the opportunity is really like an avalanche and people want to cash out before the tax on selling the same thing is much higher, probably next year," Mr Schwarzman said at a virtual panel discussion at the Bloomberg Qatar Economic Forum. "it gives us a lot of opportunities and all we have to do is be cautious and always have a very exciting growth plan."
Blackstone agreed earlier this month with Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman LLC to buy a majority stake in Medline Industries Inc. for more than $30 billion, in one of the largest leveraged buyouts of all time. Bloomberg News reported this week that the Mills family was willing to sell part of its stake in Medline, one of the largest private companies in the United States, in part because of the threat of an increase in capital gains tax.
'it 's not just taxes, but rising valuations are also a powerful incentive for people to sell their business, 'Mr. Schwarzman said.
"the US economy is really hot, and almost everything is growing faster than almost everyone expected," he said.
Schwarzman says Americans may face higher levels of persistent inflation than they are used to because employers have to raise wages to bring workers back to first-tier industries. This view is the same as that of others on the forum, including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and billionaire investor Dalio. Mr Dalio believes there is a risk of overheating and high inflation.
Mr Schwarzman said wages were "the most worrying" because the benefits people received through the stimulus package made some people reluctant to return to work.
"it's very difficult to cut wages," he said. "therefore, I think inflation will be higher than what we have experienced in the past decade."
On the issue of cryptocurrency, Schwarzman said, "I left it to Elon Musk."