1984年，雷曼兄弟被美国运通收购。次年，我离开创立了黑石集团，尽管在此之前我从未想过自己会成为一名企业家。
In 1984, Lehman Brothers passed into the hands of American Express. The following year I left to found Blackstone, though until then I had never thought of myself as an entrepreneur.
我热爱雷曼。事实上，我一直希望在那里建立自己的职业生涯。但经历了最终导致公司倒闭的内部争斗后，我无法再留下来，与那些背叛其传统的人共事。
I loved Lehman. In truth, I had wanted to build my career there. But after living through the internal feuding that ultimately brought the firm down, I could not bring myself to stay and work alongside people who had betrayed its traditions.
还有另一个原因。作为雷曼并入美国运通旗下交易的一部分，我们被要求签署竞业禁止协议，禁止我们加入竞争对手。既然这条路被堵死，我决定与雷曼前首席执行官皮特·彼得森一起闯出自己的天地。
There was another reason as well. As part of the deal that brought Lehman under the American Express umbrella, we were required to sign noncompete agreements that barred us from going to a competitor. With that path closed off, I decided to strike out on my own with Pete Peterson, Lehman's former chief executive.
在美国运通，我一定看起来被严重闲置了。吉姆·罗宾逊，公司的首席执行官，足够细心地注意到了这一点。
At American Express, I must have looked thoroughly underused. Jim Robinson, the company's chief executive, was kind enough to notice.
吉姆来自亚特兰大，乔治亚州。他的父亲曾经管理该市领先的银行之一，而吉姆自己在美国运通的领导岗位上也取得了卓越的成就。他举止彬彬有礼，带着旧时代的礼数，但在这副 polished manners（注：此处原文为polished manners，意指彬彬有礼的举止）之下，他也能够直率得体。我喜欢与他交谈，也享受与他共事的时光。
Jim came from Atlanta, Georgia. His father had run one of the city's leading banks and Jim himself had made a formidable success of his years at the helm of American Express. He carried himself with an old-fashioned courtliness, yet beneath the polished manners he could be admirably direct. I liked talking with him and I enjoyed working with him.
我被安排在吉姆办公室旁边的办公室。另一边是路易·格斯特纳，美国运通的总裁，后来因主导IBM的转型而闻名。吉姆给我分配了任务：“你可以为美国运通处理一些交易，并教格斯特纳一些金融知识。”也许吉姆在我身上看出了某种“政治家”的潜质，因为他也为我打开了白宫的大门。他安排我与吉姆·贝克尔会面——当时是里根总统的幕僚长，后来成为财政部长，主持了1985年的广场协议。
I was given the office next to Jim's. On the other side was Lou Gerstner, the president of American Express, who would later become famous for turning around IBM. Jim gave me my assignment: "You can work on some deals for American Express and teach Gerstner something about finance." Perhaps Jim had discerned some "statesman" in me, for he also opened a door for me at the White House. He arranged an interview with Jim Baker, then chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan and later treasury secretary, who would preside over the Plaza Accord of 1985.
会议结束后，我们非正式地达成一致：我将成为白宫工作人员中的第四号人物。但就在此时，传来消息：贝克尔将成为财政部长，而当时的财政部长唐·里根将接替贝克尔，出任白宫幕僚长。
After the meeting, it was informally settled that I would become the No. 4 person on the White House staff. But just then came the announcement that Baker would become treasury secretary and that the sitting treasury secretary, Don Regan, would take Baker's place as White House chief of staff.
贝克尔团队的人开始劝我不要接受白宫的工作。他们说，唐·里根是个很难相处的人。他会犯下严重的判断错误，然后把责任推给为他工作的人。这些人最终因他的错误而被解雇。“你也会遇到同样的事，”他们警告道。
People on Baker's team began urging me not to take a White House job. Don Regan, they said, was a very difficult man. He made serious errors in judgment and then blamed them on the people who worked for him. Those people ended up being fired for his mistakes. "That will happen to you, too," they warned.
他们建议我改任财政部助理部长，负责管理政府债务的再融资。但该职位已经空缺两年，而在此期间政府债券一直顺畅发行，毫无波折。于是我心想：我去担任这个职位到底有什么意义？
What they proposed instead was a post as assistant secretary of the treasury, with responsibility for managing the refinancing of the government's debt. But the position had been vacant for two years and the government's bonds had sold without incident all the while. What, then, was the point of my taking the job, I wondered.
“其实这份工作并不重要，”他们试图说服我说，“你只是会加入我们的团队。”但事情就到此为止了。
"Well, the job doesn't matter," they said, trying to persuade me. "You'd just be on our team." But there the matter ended.
皮特在被雷曼兄弟迫使离开后，与几位同事一起创办了一家小型投资公司，专注于小额交易。我找到他，提出与我合作创办后来成为黑石集团的想法。我的论点一直如一：如果你打算将一生奉献给一项事业，就应选择一个具有巨大发展潜力的领域。起初，皮特可能更倾向于与小型公司合作。这与他在雷曼的日子有所不同。但随着时间的推移，我认为他开始意识到，自己其实更愿意再次面对大型企业。
Pete, after being forced out of Lehman, had started a small investment firm with a few associates, doing small deals. I approached him with the idea of joining me in founding what would become Blackstone. My pitch was the same then as it has always been: If you are going to devote your life to a business, choose one with the potential to become enormous. At first, Pete may have been drawn to working with smaller companies. It was a change from his Lehman days. But as time went on, I think he began to realize that he would rather be dealing with large corporations again.
起初他提出了一个更为保守的想法：“嗯，也许你可以加入那家其他公司，”他说，“我们也可以一起做那件事。”但我坚持己见：“我不想和我不认识的人做生意。我认识你。如果你愿意加入我，共同打造一个专注于大型公司的企业，那将是再好不过的。”最终，他同意了。
Initially he suggested something more tentative. "Well, maybe you could join this other firm," he said, "and we could do that, too." But I pressed him. "I don't want to be in business with people I don't know. I know you. If you'd like to join me and build a business focused on larger companies, that would be great."
皮特曾是一名出色的学生，以最高荣誉毕业并当选为Phi Beta Kappa成员，他处理问题的方式始终是流程导向、分析性和逻辑性的。而我则更多凭借直觉行事。我善于快速读懂他人并理解他们的需求。
In the end, he agreed. Pete had been a brilliant student, graduating with the highest honors and election to Phi Beta Kappa, and he approached everything in a process-oriented, analytical and logical way. I, in contrast, operated more by instinct. I was quick to read people and understand what they wanted.
在对外关系方面，皮特拥有能够接触到几乎任何美国人的关系网络。而我则擅长判断我们为何应该接触他们。我们的技能和性格各不相同，但却相互补充。我们组成了一对理想的搭档。
With his relationships in the outside world, Pete had connections that could reach almost anyone in America. I had the ability to figure out why we should be reaching them. Our skills and personalities were different, but they were complementary. We made an ideal pair.
“你应该当CEO，”皮特说。“我以前已经当过两次CEO了。”他已经对这种压力感到厌倦。于是我们的角色分工就这样确定下来：皮特担任董事长，我担任首席执行官。
"You should be the CEO," Pete said. "I've been a CEO twice before." He had had his fill of the pressure. And so our division of roles was settled: Pete would be chairman and I would be chief executive.
斯蒂芬·施瓦茨曼是黑石集团的联合创始人、董事长兼首席执行官。
Stephen Schwarzman is co-founder, chairman and CEO of Blackstone.