Tag: blackstone

Blackstone Sells Stake In Three Virginia Data Centers Amid Grassroot Outrage

Up until now, when it comes to real estate, Blackstone was best known in recent years for dumping many of its trophy office properties – which in the aftermath of work from home never recovered their projected cash flow potential – at a huge discount. Now, it may be pulling a page from its old, pre-Lehman playbook  by calling the top in yet another commercial real estate segment: data centers. 

According to Bloomberg, Blackstone is selling its stakes in a trio of data centers across Northern Virginia for $3.5 billion, cashing out of part of a bet it made less than three years ago.

Digital Realty Trust will pay $1.2 billion of cash and offer $2.3 billion of its shares to Blackstone funds, the firms said in a statement Monday. In exchange, the data center company will acquire Blackstone’s 80% interest in two 96-megawatt data centers in Manassas, Virginia, and a 50% interest in a 96-megawatt center in nearby Sterling.

The assets involved in this week’s sale were part of a joint venture that Blackstone announced it would set up with Digital Realty in 2023 as it sought to get ahead in the AI arms race that has engulfed Wall Street in recent years. Blackstone and Digital Realty will continue to work together on their remaining data center investments located elsewhere in Northern Virginia as well as in Paris and Frankfurt. 

“We have developed a strong partnership with Blackstone,” Greg Wright, Digital Realty CEO, said in the statement. “This transaction reflects the next phase of that relationship, allowing us to increase our ownership in a portfolio of fully leased, high-quality hyperscale assets.”

It does. The question is why did Blackstone decide to pull the cord now, just as fresh doubts are creeping whether the Mag 7s will continue funding the AI expansion with virtually unlimited capex.

As part of Wall Street’s broader push into data centers, investment has poured into Northern Virginia, which is considered the country’s largest data center market, and is better known as “Data Center Alley“.


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BlackRock & Blackstone Are Buying Local Power Companies

Globalist equity firms are scooping up local energy companies across the country — and it looks like they’re just getting started. The official reason is to invest in America’s artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The buyouts are already triggering pushback and anxiety at the local level. The Associated Press recently reported that “private equity giants like BlackRock and Blackstone are buying local utilities to power AI-driven data centers, sparking ratepayer and regulator concerns.”

Worries about rising power bills have been mounting in tandem with the buildup of AI data centers around the country. Earlier this year, the AP reported:

Rising power bills are “something legislators have been hearing a lot about. … More people are speaking out at the public utility commission in the past year than I’ve ever seen before,” said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group. “There’s a massive outcry.

… Tricia Pridemore, who sits on Georgia’s Public Service Commission and is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, pointed to an already tightened electricity supply and increasing costs for power lines, utility poles, transformers and generators as utilities replace aging equipment or harden it against extreme weather.

The AI race is well underway, and it’s no surprise that these massive international asset firms, given their history, are eager to support a technology with unprecedented potential for surveillance, manipulation, and outright control. There’s also the prospect of a great return on investment, which is the official primary goal of these equity firms. But, as history shows, these multi-trillion dollar entities are not afraid to throw around their monetary might and bully companies into incorporating into their brand political causes such as climate alarmism and the “trans” agenda.  

BlackRock and Blackstone used to be the same company before separating in 1988. Together they control more than $13 trillion in assets. The bulk of that, about $12 trillion, is BlackRock’s, while Blackstone has reported about $1.2 trillion in assets. Only two countries have GDPs larger than $13 trillion — the U.S. and China.

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Blackstone Executive Wesley LePatner Among the Four Victims Killed in Manhattan Shooting

New details have surfaced of one of the four victims in the tragic Manhattan shooting that occurred on Monday evening.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, 27-year-old Shane Tamura from Las Vegas has been identified as the shooter who opened fire on the 33rd floor of the Manhattan building that houses the NFL and Blackstone headquarters.

A new report by Blackstone has revealed that one of its executives was killed in the shooting.

In an announcement, Blackstone wrote, “We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePartner, was among those who lost their lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue.”

Per The New York Post:

A Blackstone executive was among the four people shot and killed by the crazed gunman who shot up a Midtown office building, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Married mom Wesley LePatner, a senior managing director for the financial giant, was shot and killed in the lobby of the ritzy Park Avenue office tower when Shane Tamura opened fire in anger at the NFL, which shares the same building.

“We are heartbroken to share that our colleague, Wesley LePartner, was among those who lost theor lives in the tragic incident at 345 Park Avenue,” Blackstone told The Post in a statement.

“She was brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected within our firm and beyond.

“She embodied the best of Blackstone. Our prayers are with her husband, children and family.”

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Trump heads to Pittsburgh to announce $70 BILLION AI, energy investment with Sen Dave McCormick

President Donald Trump andSen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) will team up in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to announce a $70 billion investment in AI and energy for the state. The push will involve thousands of new jobs for Pennsylvanians.

The annoucement planned for Tuesday will come during the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh, and will “bring together the world’s top leaders in energy and AI, alongside the biggest global investors, labor and trades leaders, and government officials, to showcase Pennsylvania’s incredible potential to power the AI revolution,” a press release from McCormick’s office stated.

McCormick will be joined by Trump, leaders in energy, and others at Carnegie Mellon University for the announcement. The $70 billion is the “largest investment commitment in these industries in terms of dollars for the state and jobs created in the history of the Commonwealth,” McCormick said, per Axios.

“Anticipated investments include new data centers, new power generation and grid infrastructure to meet surging data center demand, along with AI training programs and apprenticeships for businesses,” a preview of McCormick’s speech adds.

COO of Blackstone, an alternate asset manager, is expected to announce a $25 billion investment into the infrastructure needed for AI, including energy and data centers. It will be expected to spur 6,000 annual jobs in construction and 3,000 permanent jobs.

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