More Videos
- What to Expect From Disney Earnings?
- HP's Shot Across Cisco's Bow
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Clowning Around At Work
- Ahead of Earnings Disney Restructures Studio
- Nov. 11: Unusual Volume Leaders
- 3 'Clear Sailing' Mid-Caps For Investors: Strategist
- Intimate Apparel Sales Heating Up: Maidenform CEO
- A Day On The USS Harry S. Truman
- Dollar Trouble, Oil's Bubble Could Derail Recovery
- Why Stronger Chinese Yuan Would Benefit US Investors
- Hewlett-Packard to Acquire 3Com for $2.7 Billion in Cash
- AIG CEO: I Remain 'Totally Committed' to Firm
- CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs Says He is Leaving Network
- A Day on the USS Harry S. Truman
- How the Droid and Google Threaten the GPS Makers
- Commercial Real Estate Near Disaster: Fund Manager
- This Town Will Pay YOU $10,000 to Buy a House
MOST SHARED
- Hewlett-Packard to Acquire 3Com for $2.7 Billion in Cash
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Dollar Trouble, Oil's Bubble Could Derail Recovery
- Addicted to Easy Money?
- Credit Is Thawing, But Businesses Still Hesitant to Borrow
- Why Stronger Chinese Yuan Would Benefit US Investors
- Oil Tomorrow
- HPQ to Acquire 3Com
Text Size 
On CNBC TV today, I have been talking about the top 5 things investors should know about the highly anticipated Blackstone IPO. (And, in case you're wondering, 5 was an arbitrary number.) Clearly, it was a very serious and informative piece of journalism.
Now, let's have some fun. Here are the top 5 things investors REALLY WANT to know about Blackstone's IPO. I don't have the answers to any of them unfortunately--but it's more fun to fantasize, isn't it?
Number One: What will the after-party be like?
At the very minimum, I would think there would be free-flowing stone crabs served by waiters without squeaky shoes. And a headline performer. Perhaps U2 (Beautiful Day)? OK Go (Invincible)? Kanye West (Gold Digger)?
Number Two: Will there be a Blackstone wealth ripple effect?
Think about the boatloads of money raised from the IPO. Yes, execs have a lockup period. But they've got to feel a little richer (that is, more fabulously wealthy versus their previous state of just fabulously wealthy). So let's apply trickle down economic theory: after the IPO, we could be looking at a hike in beachfront property prices, a boom in Ferrari sales, shortages of Park Avenue penthouses, and (gasp!) higher prices for stone crab! (I'm thinking stone crab will be a HUGE foodie fad for wannabe Steve Schwarzman's.)
Number Three: What will non-stakeholder employees get from the IPO?
Bragging rights, definitely. And if that's not enough, a t-shirt that reads, "My Private Equity Firm IPO'd and All I Got was a Lousy T-Shirt." But the t-shirt will be made of the finest Egyptian cotton.
Number Four: What will Pete Peterson do with his $1.8 billion payout?
$1.8B is a lot of dough. He could buy plenty of copies of the newly published book authored by his daughter, Holly. The book is called "The Manny," and is about Manhattan's super rich and the hiring of a male nanny (I wonder if there's anything autobiographical about this book). Check out the video take off of the book on YouTube.
Or, he could donate $1.8b to his cause celebre, his pet project, reducing the federal deficit. $1.8b down, $499b to go!
Number Five: Will Blackstone Buy Blackstone?
We hear a lot about firms going public, then private, then public again. Why not Blackstone? If the Blackstone bill becomes law and Blackstone has a looming grace period before it's tax bill balloons, it could pull off the biggest deal ever. It could take itself private.
- Private Equity Firm Taps Lobbyist
- Blackstone Says Tax Changes Could Hurt Value
- Washington Sees Private Equity as Revenue Source
- CNBC Exclusive: Stephen Schwarzman
- Concerns Raised About China Stake
- Bosses To Get Big Post IPO Payouts
- IPO Market Looking Bullish
- Video Roundup: Handicapping Blackstone
- CNBC’s Complete Coverage of Blackstone IPO
Questions? Comments?
- Bernard and Ruth Madoff's personal possessions will be auctioned this weekend. Click ahead to see.
- US real estate prices have fallen dramatically, but some places are still doing well. See the best-performing zip codes this year.
- An Italian cashmere maker aims to make profits while creating ideal conditions for his workers.
- Just in time for the holidays, the Triumph company of Japan offers the latest innovation in women’s undergarments.
- The real result of health care reform will be bloated government and higher deficits, says Larry Kudlow.
- Vote and suggest your own, and remember--there's a fine line between a hero and a zero.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes