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The fortunes of US private capitalists jumped by more than $56 billion in 2024, as shares of Blackstone, Apollo and KKR reached new highs, fueled by rapid growth and their addition to the main US stock index.

The share has been enriched by a rising share Private equity Pioneers like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and KKR co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts have produced a new crop of billionaire dealmakers in the industry ahead of expected deregulation from the incoming Trump administration that could fuel dealmaking and asset growth in 2025.

Among the seven largest private capital firms listed in the United States, gains in stocks held by top industry executives and founders amounted to more than $56 billion, led by… Blackstonethe world’s largest alternative manager, according to Financial Times calculations based on public filings.

Blackstone’s top leaders saw their shares rise by $13.5 billion in 2024 as their market value rose about 50 percent to $214 billion.

Its shares were paid by Growth of its assetsWhich exceeded one trillion dollars. In September 2023, Blackstone became the first private equity group listed on the S&P 500 Index.

Analysts expect Blackstone’s funds for wealthy private investors in real estate, credit and private equity to generate lucrative fees in 2025, boosting profits. Its performance expectations have pushed its valuation to more than 40 times its distributable earnings over the past 12 months, an indicator of the group’s cash flow.

Most of the growth in executive holdings went to Blackstone’s CEO Schwarzmanwhose shares have risen by more than $11 billion this year. President Jonathan Gray’s holdings have also gained billions of dollars, making his stake worth about $7.5 billion.

It also means that two other top executives — private equity head Joe Baratta and CFO Michael Chi — own shares worth more than $1 billion, according to Blackstone’s proxy statement.

KKR shares have performed the best of any large private equity group in 2024, with its shares nearly doubling on accelerating fundraising, with nearly $120 billion in new capital over the past 12 months. It was also added to the S&P 500 in June.

The gains mean that co-founders Kravis and Roberts’ stakes exceed $12 billion. Co-chairmen Scott Nuttall and Joe Pai have also seen their shares rise to about $2.7 billion, supported by an average annual return for KKR shares of 30 percent since they took the helm in October 2021.

Apollo Global, which was added to the S&P 500 in December, also saw its shares nearly double in 2024, boosting the stock ownership of CEO Mark Rowan and co-founders Leon Black and Josh Harris, who left the company in 2021. The gains also created significant gains Unexpected for A new generation of leadership Inside Apollo is now mostly in stock.

James Belardi, co-founder and CEO of Apollo Athena’s insurance unit, which oversees about $350 billion, saw the value of his Apollo shares rise to more than $1 billion this year, while Scott Kleinman and James Zelter, co-chairmen of Apollo, also owned shares. Its value exceeds $500. M, according to its annual report. The duo received significant stock grants as part of their promotions in 2017 and were poised to jointly lead Apollo had Rowan left the post of US Treasury Secretary under President-elect Donald Trump.

The next generation of Apollo leadership has also benefited from the jump in the stock price. In September 2023, Apollo granted $550 million of restricted stock units to a leadership group consisting of John Zito, deputy chief investment officer of the credit, Grant Kvalheim, president of Athena, and two senior private equity partners, Matt Nord and David Sambor. The value of this award has since nearly doubled to more than $1 billion.

However, in recent months, executives such as Kleinman, Bilardi, Zelter, and Rowan have either sold significant amounts of Apollo stock or indicated their intention to do so.

Top executives at Ares, TPG and Blue Owl saw the value of their shares rise by more than $4 billion in 2024, according to Financial Times calculations, boosted by 50-65 per cent stock gains.

In addition to the stock gains, private equity executives are expected to realize a large windfall from quarterly dividends on their stocks. Collectively, the top executives at the seven companies received nearly $3 billion in dividends this year, according to Financial Times calculations.