Blackstone Group LP co-founder and Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman collected about $690 million in dividends, compensation and fund payouts for 2014, according to a Friday regulatory filing, the highest annual payout ever notched by a founder of a publicly traded private-equity firm.
The amount represents a nearly 50% increase over Mr. Schwarzman’s 2013 figure and also tops the $546 million received in 2013 by Leon Black, who co-founded Apollo Global Management LLC. The tallies are according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of securities filings. For 2014, Mr. Black received $330.6 million, mostly in dividends, according to a filing from his firm Friday.
The large payouts commanded by private-equity chiefs stem from the industry’s business model and relative youth. Unlike at large Wall Street banks and many other big companies, the leaders of buyout firms are often founders who have retained large stakes in their firms.
Mr. Schwarzman, who took Blackstone public in a 2007 stock offering, derives much of his take from his roughly 20% ownership of the firm. Mr. Schwarzman received $570.5 million in dividends during 2014.
A Blackstone spokesman declined to comment Friday on behalf of the firm or the CEO.
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