Blackstone Reports Record $1.3T AUM, Earnings Increases of 25% in Q1

Neither war in the Middle East nor concerns about private credit could stop Blackstone in the first quarter of 2026. 

The private equity powerhouse reported that its distributable earnings increased 25 percent year-over-year to $1.8 billion, with fee-related earnings growing 23 percent to $1.5 billion, or $1.26 per share, and net realizations increasing by 26 percent. Capital inflows into Blackstone reached $69 billion in the first quarter, ultimately cresting close to $250 billion in the last 12 months alone, indicating that the firm’s fundraising engine remains strong amid broader market volatility. 

Blackstone’s total assets under management (AUM) now stands at a firm-record $1.3 trillion, an increase of 12 percent year-over-year, and up from the $1.24 trillion it reported as recently as October 2025.  

Michael Chae, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Blackstone, spoke to the firm’s commercial commercial real estate portfolio, and noted that Blackstone’s nine real estate investment vehicles have been powered by strong performance in the data center space. Chae said Blackstone has also seen positive momentum in logistics leasing activity, as well as a lack of new supply in the multifamily space, which has seen U.S. deliveries reach their lowest levels in 12 years. 

“The firm’s significant embedded earnings power continues to build,” said Chae. “Our balance provides resiliency in these dynamic markets and creates a strong foundation for future growth.” 

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman characterized the firm’s first-quarter results as “outstanding” in his statement to shareholders.  

“Nearly all of our flagship strategies reported positive appreciation in the quarter compared to declines in major equity and credit indexes,” said Schwarzman. “We achieved these results amid a volatile market backdrop which was impacted by geopolitical turbulence, including war in Iran, AI distribution, and we’ve also been navigating an intensely negative campaign against the private credit sector.”

Schwarzman noted that in five of the last six years, Blackstone — and the wider market — has experienced market-shattering events in the first quarters of the year: COVID exploded in March 2020, the Ukraine War began in February 2022, the regional banking crisis began in March 2023, the Liberation Day tariff were announced in April 2025, and the war in Iran began this February and has triggered the largest quarterly oil price increase in 35 years. 

“In each of these prior events, having patience was the key — when the world ultimately normalized, risk appetite returned and investors focused on fundamentals,” said Schwarzman. 

Schwarzman took time to point out that Blackstone is the world’s largest investor in AI-related infrastructure, primarily data centers. Since the firm privatized QTS Data Centers in 2021, Blackstone’s data center portfolio stands at $150 billion, while the firm is currently investing into a prospective pipeline valued at $160 billion of new data center development. 

He noted that in the first quarter, Blackstone filed to launch a new public company, Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust, that will acquire stabilized, newly constructed data centers, and that the firm is the most active private investor in the U.S. utility sector, with a focus on modernizing the electrical grid to ensure power transfer is available for its data center assets. 

“Overall, we believe Blackstone is extraordinarily well positioned for an AI-enabled future,” said Schwarzman

Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, reported that Blackstone’s institutional business AUM stands at $715 billion, up 50 percent in the last five years, largely through its dedicated infrastructure platform, which grew 41 percent year-over-year to $84 billion, underpinned by the investment performance of its data centers. 

“Data centers, and energy infrastructure, continue to be the largest driver of gains … for the firm overall,” said Gray. “As the AI revolution accelerates, we see a profound shift to hard assets, and having infrastructure platforms, alongside the largest real estate business in the world, should be quite favorable for our investors.” 

BREIT, the firm’s private real estate investment trust (REIT) and its largest private wealth vehicle by net asset value, raised $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 44 percent year-over-year to its highest level in three years. Gray noted that BREIT has documented positive returns each of the last 15 months and has generated 9.3 percent net return since its inception over the last nine years, which he said is 60 percent above the public REIT index. 

He pointed out that BREIT’s significant exposure to data centers, which makes up 23 percent of its portfolio, has enabled BREIT to navigate a period of dysfunction in CRE capital markets.  

“The outstanding results we achieved in difficult markets are a testament to the depth of our platform and the power of our brand,” said Gray. “Blackstone is an all-weather firm.”

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.