Schwarzman Stages Intervention as BXG Falls Short of Hype (1)

Steve Schwarzman had a tough message for the Blackstone Inc. executives gathered earlier this year in New York: Get your act together.

The object of the billionaire co-founder’s displeasure? Blackstone Growth, known as BXG and led by Jon Korngold. The division, which raised $4.5 billion for its debut fund, was supposed to mint Silicon Valley-esque fortunes and plug the rest of Blackstone into fast-growing companies.

The firm entered at the peak of the madness, just in time to join bidding wars before the market turned. BXG’s splashy debut had the second-biggest markdown last year in Blackstone’s private equity lineup, ...