Stephen A. Schwarzman, a Huntingdon Valley native, 1965 graduate of Abington Senior High School and the chairman and CEO of the private equity firm Blackstone Inc., appears in 21 data sets within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Epstein Files, though no allegations of wrongdoing in connection with Jeffrey Epstein have been made.

Epstein is the infamous financier, convicted child sex offender, sex trafficker, and subject of more than three million pages released by the Justice Department in late January. On Saturday, the DOJ sent Congress a list of “politically exposed persons”, including presidents, cultural icons, business leaders and government officials, CNN reported today. The DOJ was compelled to produce the list by the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress in November.

All of the released data sets which include Schwarzman are redundancies of four documents. Excerpts are below.

From a January 2015 letter:

Dear Mr. Jeffrey Epstein,

Please join our hosts Michael Bloomberg, Eric Schmidt, George Stephanopoulos, Christine and
Stephen Schwarzman, director Morten Tyldum, screenwriter Graham Moore, producers Teddy
Schwarzman, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and members of the cast on January 7th, 2015 for an
evening of cocktails and company as we honor The Imitation Game and itOs incredible success
to date.

A separate document notes that Schwarzman and his wife, Christine, hosted the gathering:

Schwarzman’s name also appears in a February 2013 invitation to Epstein from entertainment publicist Peggy Siegal regarding a 25th anniversary celebration for the New York Observer. Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Harvey Weinstein are listed as invited guests as well.

A March 2014 document regarding “nine founders of four of the biggest private-equity firms in the world” who were enjoying a “bonanza year” lists Schwarzman “with $465.4M” alongside Apollo Global Management’s Leon Black, Carlyle’s David Rubenstein, William Conway and Daniel D’Aniello.

According to Epsteinexposed.com, Schwarzman appeared in Epstein’s black book.

“Stephen Schwarzman appears in records associated with Jeffrey Epstein, including flight logs, contact lists, or legal documents. Appearance in these records does not imply any wrongdoing or criminal conduct. Many individuals had legitimate professional or social interactions,” the website says.

Schwarzman was mentioned today in an article by The Wall Street Journal titled “The Private Manhattan Club With a Jeffrey Epstein Problem“.

According to their coverage, Schwarzman was one of the early members of The Core Club, an exclusive club formed in New York City in the mid-2000s which “promised to bring together luminaries in business, arts, technology and culture in hopes of sparking some greater collective alchemy,” The Journal wrote.

In a statement, Core said Epstein was a founding member and belonged from 2003 until 2007, after which he continued as a client of the club’s spa.

“The Enterprises were never part of this individual’s social world,” Core said in its statement. “He was a sounding board for the Enterprises on a variety of subjects, as he was known to be a highly in-demand, influential financial advisor and philanthropist in New York City.”

You can search the Epstein Files database here.

Foundation expansion plans

On Tuesday, February 10, Schwarzman was the subject of another Wall Street Journal article regarding his plans to expand the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation into one of the 10 largest private foundations in the U.S.

“The substantial majority of Schwarzman’s wealth, which largely is bound up in his Blackstone stake, is slated to transfer to the foundation upon his death,” The Journal wrote, noting that his estimated net worth in early February was $43.2 billion. “The Schwarzman foundation plans to continue focusing on efforts in education, culture, medical innovation and the impact of artificial intelligence”.

“My philanthropy has brought a tremendous sense of joy and meaning to my life and I anticipate I will find more ways to give back during my lifetime,” Schwarzman wrote in 2020 when he signed the Giving Pledge.

In September 2024, Schwarzman purchased a John Singer Sargent portrait which once belonged to the late Peter A.B. Widener, a Philadelphia businessman, art collector, and former owner of Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park (Cheltenham Township). As of April 2024, he was the 34th richest person in the world.

In 2018, the Abington School Board agreed to change the name of Abington Senior High School to Abington Schwarzman High School following a $25 million donation. In 2005, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Stadium was completed.

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Photo: David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Bloomberg via Getty Images