Coffee with BS: Blackstone's Schwarzman on how to stay ahead of competition

Stephen Schwarzman talks to Pavan Lall about lessons from India, how he catches up on lost sleep and his formula to stay ahead of competition

Barely seven minutes have passed before Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive officer of the world’s largest private equity company, the Blackstone Group, arrives for our scheduled meeting at his office in Mumbai. We proceed towards the boardroom on the fifth floor of the iconic Express Towers which, incidentally, Blackstone bought out for Rs 900 crore in 2014. At 73, Schwarzman, dressed in a blue suit, white shirt and sporting a silk tie, is bright-eyed and energetic.

I step forward expecting a handshake, but am surprised by the perfectly executed namaste, which reminds me that we are in the midst of