Blackstone’s CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who didn’t take a bonus this year, sounds pretty frustrated with the public market’s attitude to Blackstone’s stock.
A discussion about the firm’s dividend — it is eliminating the fourth quarter but thinks 2009 will be OK — turned into an exercise in thinking aloud tinged with annoyance.
COO Tony James explained succintly on a conference call with analysts how Blackstone’s cashflow meant the dividend looked pretty secure.
Schwarzman added: “Its frustrating being us. Because if we do pay that, with the stock at this kind of dimwitted price — you could say, why even pay the thing, because nobody cares.”
“But from our perspective, the numbers say we ought to be able to do that. We do hope that someone out there appreciates it. It is frustrating.”
This post originally appeared at Reuters DealZone
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