Stephen Schwarzman, the Blackstone founder and Wall Street powerhouse, was not ready to predict victory for Michael Bloomberg in next year’s presidential election — let alone the Democratic primary race.
But with the rumblings last week that Mr Bloomberg, a fellow New York billionaire, was preparing to enter the race, he thrilled to the idea that a candidate was at last rallying to the capitalist cause in a contest he worries has drifted dangerously to the left.
“I think this was a very bad day for Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders because Mike’s understanding of the real economy is such that I don’t see how some of the policies of those other people can survive,” Mr Schwarzman told columnist Thomas Friedman during an interview at the 92nd Street Y in New York. “I think he will dent their momentum by force of logic and reason.”