Landing a Blackstone job harder than Harvard, Yale says co-founder Steve Schwarzma

Want to be an analyst at Blackstone Group? Good luck.

The firm had more than 15,000 applications for 100 analyst positions, co-founder Steve Schwarzman said on Thursday on a conference call with analysts and investors. That’s an acceptance rate of less than 0.7 per cent.

"It’s six times harder to get a job as an analyst at Blackstone than getting into Harvard, Yale or Stanford," said the 68-year-old billionaire.

Schwarzman, a Yale University and Harvard Business School graduate, made the comment after New York-based Blackstone reported its highest-ever quarterly earnings, double the firm’s profit a year ago.

"We like to think that the companies that are similar to Blackstone include many of the great companies in the world," Schwarzman said, citing Apple, Google, Walt Disney and Starbucks. "Their customers need their products and turn to them first."

Blackstone, with $310 billion in assets under management, is the world’s biggest alternative investment firm. With private equity, real estate, credit and hedge fund units, it’s one of the most sought-after companies for young investment bankers and business school graduates.