Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman endorses Donald Trump in US presidential election

Billionaire Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone, has said he will vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election.

Schwarzman also said he will also donate to Trump and several Republican Senate candidates, according to Axios.

Schwarzman is a longtime Republican who had also endorsed Trump during his first term.

Blackstone is an investment and real estate giant. It has a market cap of 148.84 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. It also assets under management of more than $1 trillion. Schwarzman is the Chairman, CEO, and Co-founder of Blackstone.

Schwarzman to vote for ‘change’ amid rising antisemitism

Schwarzman told Axios that he will vote for Trump to seek a “change”. He added that rising antisemitism in the United States has also shaped his decision.

Schwarzman said, “The dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency.”

Schwarzman further said that the US under President Joe Biden was heading in the “wrong direction”.

“I share the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration, and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction. For these reasons, I am planning to vote for change and support Donald Trump for President. In addition, I will be supporting Republican Senate candidates and other Republicans up and down the ticket,” said Schwarzman.

Even though Schwarzman has endorsed Trump, Axios noted that Blackstone as a company remains bipartisan. John Gay, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), President, and heir-apparent of Blackstone, has endorsed Biden and is a major donor to the Democratic Party. Similarly, Tom Nides, a former US envoy to Israel under the Biden administration, serves as the Vice Chairman for Strategy and Client Relations at Blackstone.

Silicon Valley investors turning against Biden: Report

The news of Blackstone boss Schwarzman endorsing Biden has come at a time when Silicon Valley investors are also reportedly turning against Biden.

For his hardliner policies, incendiary rhetoric, and the incitement to a mob on January 6, 2021 that attacked the US Capitol, Trump was long avoided by the Silicon Valley and the US corporate world, but that now appears to be changing.

Prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya have already announced support for Trump and a fund-raiser for him, according to The New York Times. Moreover, even those who may not be openly endorsing Trump are dissing Biden.

The report said that Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz and Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital have criticised Biden but have stopped short of supporting Trump. Meanwhile, Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures is focusing on electing Republicans to Congress.