Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Blackstone Group.
#2. Blackstone Buys Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 Billion
Equity Office Properties (EOP) Trust, the nation's biggest owner of office buildings, sold to Blackstone Group for $39 billion, the largest leveraged buyout ever at the time. "Somebody made us an offer that was higher than our own internal assessment of the value, and under that set of circumstances, I had an absolute obligation to respond, which I did," EOP boss Sam Zell told TIME after the deal. Translation: They offered me stupid money.