Key Takeaways
- • Blackstone is hosting more than 170 summer interns in 2025, up from more than 150 last year, comprising college summer analysts and graduate summer associates.
- • Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman told interns on June 4 that the firm's industry is one where "nothing ever stays the same," according to a Blackstone spokesperson.
- • Blackstone accepted just 0.3% of applicants to its most recent analyst class, a rate more than 10 times lower than Harvard's, per Business Insider.
- • The firm now recruits from over 1,000 schools, up from nine in 2015, and has pushed its associate recruiting later than many competitors.
Summary
Blackstone cofounder and CEO Steve Schwarzman addressed more than 170 summer interns in a June 4 talk at the firm's 345 Park Avenue headquarters in Manhattan, according to Business Insider. Speaking with Paige Ross, the firm's head of global human resources, Schwarzman urged the trainees to embrace change, saying the industry is one where "nothing ever stays the same" and that candidates with curiosity and a appetite for constant learning would fit well. Interns at some of the firm's 14 other global locations viewed a recording of the session, and London interns received a visit from Schwarzman the prior week, a spokesperson said.
Schwarzman described the goal of the program as giving interns a sense of life at Blackstone and of finance more broadly, calling it "not a black box" and "a great way to spend a career," with access to "high-quality people" and "fascinating stuff." He also told the students that having made it through the selection process made them "somebody that's special."
The remarks come as private equity adjusts to a changed environment. Business Insider notes that the industry long relied on low interest rates to buy companies cheaply, and that returns increasingly depend on operational transformation rather than financial engineering. Amid a yearslong slowdown in deal flow, many large buyout firms, Blackstone included, have shifted emphasis toward private lending over corporate buyouts.
Blackstone's summer class includes both summer analysts and summer associates, who undergo orientation followed by three weeks of technical and business-specific training before moving into their groups. A spokesperson said the summer analyst program is the firm's main pipeline for full-time analysts, though the firm declined to say how many it might hire from colleges this year. Head of campus recruiting Taylor Kanfer described the program structure to Business Insider. Ross told Business Insider that the firm recruits from banks "on our own timeline and only after candidates have experience." A select group of interns will also join President Jon Gray on a run this summer.
Schwarzman described the goal of the program as giving interns a sense of life at Blackstone and of finance more broadly, calling it "not a black box" and "a great way to spend a career," with access to "high-quality people" and "fascinating stuff." He also told the students that having made it through the selection process made them "somebody that's special."
The remarks come as private equity adjusts to a changed environment. Business Insider notes that the industry long relied on low interest rates to buy companies cheaply, and that returns increasingly depend on operational transformation rather than financial engineering. Amid a yearslong slowdown in deal flow, many large buyout firms, Blackstone included, have shifted emphasis toward private lending over corporate buyouts.
Blackstone's summer class includes both summer analysts and summer associates, who undergo orientation followed by three weeks of technical and business-specific training before moving into their groups. A spokesperson said the summer analyst program is the firm's main pipeline for full-time analysts, though the firm declined to say how many it might hire from colleges this year. Head of campus recruiting Taylor Kanfer described the program structure to Business Insider. Ross told Business Insider that the firm recruits from banks "on our own timeline and only after candidates have experience." A select group of interns will also join President Jon Gray on a run this summer.
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