◼ Dossier
Stephen Schwarzman
Co-founder and CEO, The Blackstone Group. Net worth: ~$37 billion (Forbes, 2026).
When the 2008 financial crisis wiped out millions of families' homes, Blackstone bought 80,000 of them. When COVID-19 drove tens of millions toward eviction, Schwarzman celebrated "huge increases in rents." When California tried to let cities control rent, Blackstone spent $6.8 million to stop them. This is not capitalism working as intended. This is capitalism working exactly as intended.
acts
Blackstone bought 80,000 foreclosed homes during the 2008 crisis and became America's largest landlord
As millions of American families lost their homes in the 2008 financial crisis, Blackstone deployed a $10 billion bet on human misery. Beginning in 2011, Blackstone's subsidiary Invitation Homes purchased approximately 80,000 foreclosed single-family homes across 17 markets. It then converted them into rental properties — extracting wealth from people who had lost homeownership through the crisis. Blackstone was one of the first private equity firms to enter the market, and became the single largest individual-home landlord in the United States.
- Blackstone spent approximately $10 billion buying foreclosed homes, primarily in Sun Belt markets where foreclosure rates were highest.
- Invitation Homes eventually controlled roughly 80,000 homes in markets including Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampa, and Dallas.
- Critics documented high eviction rates, maintenance failures, and rent increases that far outpaced local income growth.
- Residents reported being charged fees for everything from late payments to lawn care while maintenance requests went unanswered.
- Blackstone took Invitation Homes public in 2017 in one of the largest IPOs of the year, extracting further gains from its rental empire.
Source: Invitation Tenants — "Blackstone Profits from the Foreclosure Crisis"; Housing Is A Human Right
Schwarzman celebrated "huge increases in rents" as millions of Americans faced eviction
During a December 2020 investor call — as tens of millions of Americans faced eviction due to COVID-19 unemployment — Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman boasted that the company was experiencing "huge increases in rents" across its real estate portfolio. The comment was widely reported as an illustration of private equity's extractive model: what constitutes a crisis for tenants constitutes a profit opportunity for their landlords.
- The comment was made during an investor day presentation in December 2020.
- At the time, an estimated 11.4 million renters were behind on rent, according to the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
- A federal eviction moratorium was in effect — but expiration was looming and evictions had already resumed in many states.
- Blackstone's real estate portfolio includes residential rentals, warehouses, and commercial properties globally.
- Schwarzman's personal net worth at the time exceeded $15 billion.
The FTC sued Invitation Homes — Blackstone's single-family rental vehicle — for junk fees, fake inspections, security deposit theft, and pandemic eviction fraud; $48M settlement in 2024
In September 2024, the Federal Trade Commission brought a formal complaint against Invitation Homes — the largest single-family rental landlord in the United States, with origins in Blackstone's post-2008-crisis foreclosure buying spree — for a sustained pattern of consumer fraud. The complaint documented: mandatory undisclosed junk fees totaling $1,700+ per year per tenant; fake quality-assurance inspections that produced 33,328+ first-week maintenance work orders for mold, rodents, and broken appliances; a security deposit return rate of 39.2% against a national average of 63.9%; pandemic-era steering of renters away from CDC legal protections toward a proprietary "Hardship Affidavit" with no legal force; and eviction filings against tenants who had already vacated. Internal company communications obtained by the FTC included a CEO email instructing staff to make smart home fees mandatory and to "juice this hog." Invitation Homes settled for $48 million — approximately $106 per affected tenant — without admitting liability. No individual executives were charged.
- FTC complaint documented: mandatory undisclosed junk fees ($1,700+/year per tenant); fake move-in inspections; 33,328+ first-week emergency maintenance work orders filed by new residents.
- Security deposit theft: Invitation Homes returned only 39.2% of deposits, versus a national average of 63.9% — by charging tenants for pre-existing damage and normal wear.
- Pandemic eviction abuse: steered renters away from CDC protection protections toward a proprietary "Hardship Affidavit" offering no legal protection; filed evictions against tenants who had already left.
- "Juice this hog": internal CEO email, obtained by the FTC, instructed staff to make smart home fees mandatory. The phrase was the company's internal description of its own tenants.
- Settlement: $48 million, average refund ~$106 per affected tenant. Invitation Homes admitted no wrongdoing. No individual executives charged.
- Blackstone founded Invitation Homes, built the extraction-focused business model and corporate culture that drove the FTC-cited conduct, and IPO'd it in 2017. The practices documented in the FTC complaint — junk fees, fake inspections, security deposit theft — are the direct operational output of the model Blackstone designed and institutionalized.
Blackstone spent millions to kill California rent control across three consecutive ballot measures — Props 10, 21, and 33 — every time Californians tried to vote for tenant protection
Between 2018 and 2024, Californians voted three times on ballot measures that would have allowed cities to expand rent control protections. Each time, Blackstone and its affiliates spent campaign cash to defeat the measure. In 2018, Blackstone contributed $6,859,747 to oppose Proposition 10 — the most expensive California ballot measure campaign to that point — and won. In 2020, Blackstone opposed Proposition 21. In 2024, AIR Communities/Blackstone Group contributed $1,884,975 to oppose Proposition 33, while Blackstone contributed an additional $1.4 million to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee running the "No on 33" campaign; the total landlord coalition spent $157.5 million+ to defeat the measure. All three ballot measures failed. The direct financial interest is straightforward: Invitation Homes' revenue model depends on its ability to raise rents between tenancies without a cap. California's rent control initiatives were the legislative threat to that model, and Blackstone paid to kill each one.
- 2018, Prop 10: Blackstone contributed $6,859,747. Measure would have allowed cities to expand rent control. Defeated.
- 2020, Prop 21: Blackstone opposed. Measure would have limited rent increases for long-term tenants. Defeated.
- 2024, Prop 33: AIR Communities/Blackstone $1,884,975 + $1.4M to California Apartment Association Issues Committee. Total landlord coalition: $157.5M+. Measure would have restored local authority to enact rent control. Defeated.
- Three ballot measures, three defeats. Each would have constrained Invitation Homes' ability to raise rents between tenancies.
- Blackstone's direct financial interest: Invitation Homes operates in California markets where the ability to raise rents without a cap is a core driver of returns.
- Source note: Prop 10 figure from The Intercept (2018). Prop 33 figures from Housing Is A Human Right and CalMatters (2024).
Schwarzman donated $40 million+ to Republican candidates and causes in the 2024 election cycle, reversing a brief post-January-6 break with Trump
Stephen Schwarzman is among the largest individual donors in US politics. In the 2020 cycle, he donated approximately $35 million to Senate Republican campaigns and PACs, with an additional $15 million in late November 2020. By 2024, that figure had grown: Schwarzman donated approximately $40 million to Republican candidates and causes in the 2024 election cycle, including contributions to MAGA Inc. — Trump's principal super PAC. After publicly breaking with Trump following January 6, he reversed course in May 2024, citing concerns about "regulatory environment" for private equity — specifically the carried interest loophole and proposed rules limiting PE access to 401(k) retirement accounts. Schwarzman's political giving is not bipartisan philanthropy. It is a direct investment in the regulatory environment that enables Blackstone's business model: low capital gains rates, weak tenant protections, PE access to retirement savings, and minimal private equity oversight.
- 2020 cycle: ~$35 million to Senate Republican candidates and PACs; additional $15 million post-election (November 2020).
- 2024 cycle: ~$40 million to Republican candidates and causes, including contributions to MAGA Inc. — Trump's principal super PAC.
- Schwarzman publicly broke with Trump after January 6, then reversed in May 2024 — citing concerns about the regulatory environment for private equity.
- Direct policy stakes: carried interest loophole (saves Schwarzman ~$100M/year in taxes); Labor Department rules on PE access to 401(k)s (reversed under Trump 2.0).
- Blackstone's carried interest tax structure treats Schwarzman's billion-dollar annual compensation as capital gains (20%) rather than income (37%). He has lobbied against every attempt to close it.
Blackstone's carried interest tax structure lets Schwarzman pay lower rates than his janitors
Blackstone is structured as a partnership, allowing Schwarzman and other partners to treat their compensation — known as "carried interest," which represents their share of fund profits — as capital gains rather than ordinary income. This means Schwarzman pays a 20% federal rate on most of his income rather than the 37% top ordinary income rate. In 2022, Congress partially closed the loophole by extending the holding period requirement. Schwarzman spent millions lobbying against the reform and publicly compared proposed elimination of carried interest to Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland.
- Carried interest: fund managers take 20% of profits from their managed funds as compensation. Because funds hold assets, this compensation is taxed as capital gains (20% federal rate) rather than wage income (37% federal rate).
- Schwarzman's total compensation from Blackstone has exceeded $1 billion in multiple recent years — taxed at rates far lower than those paid by middle-class workers.
- In 2010, Schwarzman responded to President Obama's carried interest reform proposal by saying: "It's a war. It's like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939." He later said the comparison was "inappropriate."
- The Inflation Reduction Act (2022) extended the holding period for carried interest but did not eliminate the loophole.
- Multiple financial reform advocates estimate that carried interest costs the US Treasury approximately $1.6–2 billion annually.
◼ List of charges
01
Housing Extraction at Scale
10 – 25 years
Statute: Systematic acquisition of residential housing stock, particularly in periods of community financial crisis, for the purpose of rent extraction — exceeding 10,000 homes.
Basis: Blackstone purchased 80,000 foreclosed homes during 2008 financial crisis, converting families who lost homeownership into rent-paying tenants; Invitation Homes IPO extracted further gains; documented high eviction rates and maintenance failures
02
Predatory Consumer Harm
5 – 15 years
Statute: Deliberate deployment of predatory products, deceptive marketing, or exploitative lending practices targeting vulnerable populations — causing documented financial harm to tens of thousands of consumers, as established by regulatory action, restitution orders, or court findings.
Basis: FTC complaint against Invitation Homes (Blackstone vehicle): documented junk fees, fake inspections, security deposit theft (39.2% vs 63.9% industry return rate), pandemic eviction fraud; "juice this hog" CEO email; $48M settlement (2024); no admission of wrongdoing; no individual accountability
03
Dark Money Electoral Interference
5 – 15 years
Statute: Funding political campaigns through non-disclosed intermediary organizations designed to conceal donor identity and circumvent campaign finance law.
Basis: $6.8M to kill California rent control (Prop 10, 2018); $40M+ to Republican candidates and causes (2024 cycle), including contributions to MAGA Inc. — Trump's principal super PAC; political spending directly tied to maintaining regulatory environment enabling Blackstone's business model
04
Tax Avoidance at Extreme Scale
10 – 25 years
Statute: Sustained effective tax rate below 5% on wealth growth exceeding $1 billion, achieved via legal mechanisms engineered to benefit the wealthy.
Basis: Carried interest structure taxes Schwarzman's billion-dollar annual compensation at 20% capital gains rate rather than 37% income rate; lobbied against reform; compared elimination to Hitler's invasion of Poland
Total sentence
30–80 years
That is
0.4–1.0 life sentences
(using 78 years as one life)
At $1 million per day
Stephen Schwarzman's fortune would last 101 years
1.3 lifetimes of luxury — before running out.
These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.
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