And in the end, we ended up just buying the U.S. textbook business, Houghton Mifflin. Mr. Baratta has been with Blackstone for 22 years, including ov BARATTA: And it is this perfect example of what we thought Hello Sunshine could do, the convening power to assemble that amazing ensemble cast, amazing music creators, and create something that is really important to, in this case, Amazon Prime, to be an important counterparty of the streamer. Transcript: Joe Barratta of Blackstone April 18, 2023 8:00am by Barry Ritholtz The transcript from this week's, MiB: Joe Barratta, Blackstone's Global Head of Private Equity, is below. Blackstone Hires Droga5 Chief Strategy Officer Jonny Bauer To - Forbes But if we can find a great business at a reasonable price in Europe, were going to buy it. Late last year, a trio of engineers who had just helped Apple modernize its search technology began working on the type of technology underlying ChatGPT, the chatbot from OpenAI that has captivated the public since it launched last November. Blackstone's Baratta Buys Townhouse - Business Insider BARATTA: I was watching the 10:00 a.m. game. We have been speaking with Joe Baratta. Thats a pretty good run. BARATTA: Yeah. The goal: to help bring brand . Mr. Baratta owns 1,145,448 shares of Blackstone stock worth more than $105,312,489 as of April 20th. BARATTA: Yeah, right after I graduated college, I went to Georgetown in 1993. RITHOLTZ: You dont have the same labor costs. For information on our privacy practices see our Privacy Policy. RITHOLTZ: But youre not dealing with startups; youre dealing with . RITHOLTZ: So here we are, enter the first quarter 2023, whats the environment look like relative to mid-2021? The war in Ukraine, surprisingly, hasnt had a negative impact, or at least not as much as I expected in the public markets. Youve been listening to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. Blackstone 3d Amid global economic uncertainty and the ongoing recovery from COVID's systemic shock, we asked Global Head of Private Equity Joe Baratta for his perspective on the current. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Baratta was with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. You werent taken seriously. BARATTA: Yeah. RITHOLTZ: But youre still dealing with a lot of European at that time. And so, instead of investing in those, we decided to back Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, two ex-Disney guys, really well-regarded business guys in the entertainment industry, to build an independent content creation business, which weve done both in childrens content with Moonbug, and in live action entertainment with Hello Sunshine, which was the business that Reese Witherspoon started. I dont miss a game. RITHOLTZ: in The Atlantic. In the last 16 years, insiders at Blackstone Inc have sold an estimated . Mr.Barattajoined Blackstone in 1998 and in 2001 he moved to London to help establish Blackstones corporate private equity business in Europe. Thats another in market that were investing in today, that maybe a decade ago, we wouldnt have been. Even though the buyout king has no plans to retire, the appointment of Joe Baratta, a 41-year-old dealmaker credited with building up the firm's European buyouts practice, was the latest step. Im not saying were clairvoyant and we handled everything perfectly. And as an asset class, theyve performed extremely well, with low incidence of loss, good returns. Because people start so early, you have to do so much to get in college. "The current volatile and unpredictable environment reinforces . Business models are changing. And I thought private equity was interesting because you could live with those investments for a longer period of time. BARATTA: particularly this offseason, theyve done a nice job. And I think fundamentals mattered more in private equity than they did in public market investing. Mr.Barattahas served on the boards of many past Blackstone portfolio companies and currently serves as a member or observer on the boards of. RITHOLTZ: and they then diversify and or Im sorry, they made them divest those vertically integrated holdings? BARATTA: But they were private equity. RITHOLTZ: By the way, there are a lot of different names for Blackstone. BARATTA: where the music is amazing. Deadly. Maybe theyre not run that efficiently. RITHOLTZ: You could just access everything online as well , BARATTA: Fewer of them. When Baratta led private equity giant Blackstone Group's 102 million ($136 million) deal to buy Merlin Entertainments in 2005, the U.K. theme park group was best known for the macabre London. If you enjoy this conversation, well, be sure and check out any of the previous 500 or so weve done over the past eight years. We have some assets. RITHOLTZ: Is AI investable? Our model is not to run the companies. Elon Musk May Yet Meet Twitter Executives in Court - New York Times Speaking on. Three things to know about Blackstone's $8bn long-hold strategy View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast. Blackstone: long-life private equity funds 'now an asset class' And we were like, look, wed be great partners as youre looking at assets. Disclosures It sounds like a good background for someone who eventually ends up buying companies. Is finding the back of the net the hardest job in football? I love football. Since 2012, Mr.Barattahas served as the firms Global Head of Private Equity and is located in New York. BARATTA: Yeah. So a big part of what we do is trying to figure out where we dont want to invest, and whats going to be dislocated by ubiquitous broadband back in 2005, 06, 07, and now, AI with a rate of sophistication of that technology. So we share themes and we share these economic signals. Mr.Barattagraduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University. We were much more networked. There werent that many people. Joseph Baratta* Global Head of Private Equity Wayne Berman Global Head of Government Relations David Blitzer Global Head of Tactical Opportunities Martin Brand Head of North America Private Equity and Global Co-Head of Technology Investing Kenneth Caplan Global Co-Head of Real Estate Gilles Dellaert Global Head of Blackstone Insurance Solutions BARATTA: Ive been really fortunate in my life where Ive had, you know, along the way, in the journey, Morgan Stanley, at McCown De Leeuw, at Tinicum which is the Ruttenberg family, where in each of those places, Ive had somebody who really helped me in my career and with whom Im very close even today. And the size of our private equity business is you know, were now on our ninth fund. And for a while, it looked like the lower quality the stock was, the better it did. Before joining Blackstone, Mr.Barattawas with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. RITHOLTZ: So heres the really interesting observation that youre making, Blackstone has boots on the ground in all these different sectors. BARATTA: I think people are very negative on the U.K. and . You have to have like an open mind and realize that things are changing. Joe Baratta, Blackstone's global head of private equity, says even though loan markets are not really open right now Blackstone is well-suited to have access to capital. And we want to invest not just in digital virtual assets, but also in physical assets. Mr. Baratta owns over 85,000 units of Blackstone Inc stock worth over $99,814,339 and over the last 3 years he sold BX stock worth over $81,255,679. Like, the last $30 billion deal we did, I mean, we bought Medline in 2021. You had Lehman almost go bust, I think, around that time for maybe the first or second time. And so, in terms of where our teams are spending time, its in and around sort of public markets. I havent gotten into the second season yet, and people said . He joined Blackstone . That doesnt happen. It has to be growing. What are some of your favorites? Joe Baratta, Blackstone Group LP's top private equity dealmaker, can't be too cautious right now. It is an institutionalized asset class. Its very hard for us to assemble much more than a $5 billion equity check. I think they were operating at the really top of the industry, really smart people, good track record. Again, were not perfect. Off-duty: Blackstone's Joe Baratta on gravel biking, Cloud Cuckoo Land and the Dallas Cowboys Baratta's shares his New Year's resolution, books he's reading and high and low career moments, as well as his fantasy management role in the NFL. But were seeing solid demand. It seems like private equity is qualitatively different than it was back in the early days. Mr. Baratta served as the Senior Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at The Blackstone Group. Im assuming you guys . Im assuming these are both related M&A-type . I started at Blackstone in July of 98, and I guess what was going on that year, you had like a Southeast Asian currency crisis. And there are many more $10 billion companies today than there was 12 or 15 years ago. You get paid for the incremental risk that youre taking in a more leveraged capital structure. BARATTA: A growing economy, zero cost to capital, markets compounding at 15, 16, 17 percent. Sebastian Escobar is my audio engineer. Inside Blackstone's Plans to Create an Entertainment Empire But youre looking at valuations and what sort of multiples you want to pay. BARATTA: Well., they definitely did that. He is also a member of the firm's Management Committee and serves on many of the firm's investment committees. BARATTA: I think starting with the fundamentals, you know, the economy is quite sound. Whats an attractive place that people probably overlooked? Mr. Baratta owns over 85,000 units of Blackstone Inc stock worth over $99,814,339 and over the last 3 years he sold BX stock worth over $81,255,679. In this podcast, Joe and Peter discuss Blackstone's history building Merlin into a global leader, and our long-term investment plans to help the company continue to expand. And so, you know, my base case was that it wouldnt and youd have like called it wonkily like mean reversion in global cost of capital, which means rates would go up, market risk premiums would go up, you know, PE multiples would come down, credit spreads would probably gap out. Mr. Joseph Patrick Baratta, also known as Joe, has been the Global Head of Private Equity at The Blackstone Group, Private Equity Group since July 2012. The IOC and FIFA are scrambling to change their ways before it's too late. RITHOLTZ: At what point does size become the enemy? And then, like I said, theyre very accessible. Sounds like you guys arent aggressively in the, were in a recession or about to have a recession six months. So, yeah, thats been a fun thing to be in. When did that beckon? I would be remiss if I did not thank the fine team who help put this conversation together each week. So lets talk a little bit about the state of PE investing today. Were seeing some companies have less pricing power maybe than they had a year ago. IRL Suspended CEO Shafi After Reported Pattern of Misconduct; Acting CEO Named, By Mark Matousek · April 30, 2023 2:33 PM PDT. You can find those at YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you find your favorite podcasts. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown University, is a trustee of the Tate Foundation, serves on the board of Year Up, an organization focused on youth employment, and serves on the Board of Trustees of Trinity School in New York City. Its where we have competitive differentiation, and its where you find better quality businesses. NEW YORK-- ( BUSINESS WIRE )--Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced that Joe Baratta, the firm's Global Head of Private Equity, will join its . And then at Blackstone, you know, Steve Schwarzman changed my life; and Tony James, who when I was about four years into Blackstone, really helped transform the firm and make it what it is today. BARATTA: Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Tony Hill, those guys. So warm sunshine, no interest? Privacy Policy Blackstone Seeks 'Coalition' Partners to Invest Like Buffett So, you know, the answer is we cant really get deals much bigger than, you know, $10 billion to $15 billion done on our own. We started doing deals on our own. We had our second real estate fund, which was I think about $1.2 billion or $1.3 billion. RITHOLTZ: So youre anticipating one of the questions Im going to ask you, which I might as well bring it up now. Mr. Baratta also worked at Morgan Stanley in its mergers and acquisitions department. Joseph Baratta on the Future of Private Equity Masters in Business Investing Bloomberg Radio host Barry Ritholtz speaks with Joseph Baratta, who has served as global head of private equity at Blackstone - the world's largest alternative asset manager, with $975 billion in assets under management - since 2012. RITHOLTZ: Lets talk about books. To me, this world is normal, not abnormal, with, you know, positive real interest rates. So I actually think, at the large end of the private equity market, were undercapitalized. Its obvious in the public markets, things get frothy. Hes probably 42 or 43. No, no, thats I mean, the firm is called Blackstone, period. stonco lighting catalog. Joe Baratta, The Blackstone Group: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Bloomberg TV+ Bloomberg Surveillance: Early Edition Bloomberg Surveillance: Early Edition with Francine Lacqua. BARATTA: looking at the divestiture from Vivendi. BARATTA: So there were still French francs and, you know, lira, and German Deutsche Marks. So, were, were very much open for business in Europe, in the U.K. You know, the conflict has definitely been a drag to some degree in the economy, and introduces some uncertainty. Blackstone Joe Baratta Finance Manager Boca Raton, FL INFINITI of Coconut Creek, +10 more Joe Baratta I/O Psychologist, Trustee, Vice Chair Lake Tahaoe School Board, CEO TBIG Investments. I mean, at least, it was back then. So I said, well, what kind of deals worked in the U.S. in the early 90s, in my experience? I was supposed to go over you know, in November, I ended up doing that. And, you know, cost structures are a little less efficient there may be than in the U.S. now. And then the metaverse, you know, almost came and went already, a lot of hype there. I mean, you know, this is probably 2002. Are goalscorers born or made? I will learn something, and Ill have something else to do on the other side of it. The big TV companies, such as ViacomCBS and Discovery, were bleeding viewers as people cut the cord to cable television and streaming powerhouses like Netflix grew ever bigger. BARATTA: watch media, changed the way we shop, changed the way we found information. And so, we began to hire local people who were young in their careers. We find great management teams. And so, we bought the pub business. I mean, it was certainly not expected. Then, in the fall of 2020, Baratta huddled with Kevin Mayer, a longtime Disney executive who had just left TikTok as CEO of the social media app.