Monday, October 28, 2013

I knew it. No wealthy man involved with a company that will see continued wealth sells their interests.







 
October 28, 2013

Blackstone Group LP (BX:US) (click here) President Tony James is reducing his stake in the private-equity firm he helped build into the world’s largest manager of alternative assets over the past 11 years. 

James sold 3.25 million shares of New York-based Blackstone between Oct. 23 and Oct. 25 at prices ranging from $26.71 to $27.85, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week. James has sold at least 8.25 million shares this year in three transactions, about a fifth of the equity he held in Blackstone at the beginning of the year, according to regulatory filings (BX:US)

James said he has no plans to leave the firm. Some colleagues inside Blackstone have been speculating that the 62-year-old may be seeking a new career outside of private equity, according to people familiar with the firm, who asked not to be identified because the matter was internal.

“I am not leaving Blackstone,” James said when reached by telephone over the weekend. “I will not leave Blackstone in years.” 

Peter Rose, a Blackstone spokesman, declined to comment on James’s share sale. 

Blackstone has rallied (BX:US) 71 percent this year and this month reached the highest level since 2007, the year the firm went public. 

This month’s transactions were valued at about $88.6 million, the filing showed. They were made through a company controlled by James, his spouse and a trust for his children. In two other sales this year, James sold 3.5 million shares, valued at about $64.2 million in February and 1.5 million shares, worth about $34.2 million, in July...

I doubt he is going to reinvest in anything except his own comfort and security. He is selling his stocks because the company has finally come close the the selling price before the global economic collapse of 2008. He can't sell all his stocks at once, otherwise, it would tank the company and diminish his take. There is no big secret here, he wants his money before The Fed takes away Quantitative Easing and the stock prices fall again in what might be another recession.