The Blackstone Group (BX) joined Twitter today, with a snarky message about how Q4 earnings will be announced early next month. Oh, wait, it was just an informative link to an existing press release. Still, Blackstone at least has gone where just one or two other private equity firms have gone before.
Blackstone spokesman Peter Rose said that the new account (@blackstone) “will update you from time to time on interesting happenings at Blackstone as well as perspectives from our senior professionals.”
Pretty sure this isn’t going to be an impromptu stream of thought from Steve Schwarzman’s Blackberry, where he fights back against slights from @joshkkosman or @dealbreaker. Instead, chances are that Blackstone will use Twitter deliberatively, with company counsel checking every one of the 140 characters. Also unlikely that we’ll see either of the following strategies employed:
- @ComfortablySmug BREAKING: @blackstone begins bidding on twitter accounts that have at least 3x followers before interest taxes depreciation and amortization
- @PCDunham BREAKING: @blackstone will begin acquiring twitter accounts and filtering good tweets into its timeline
But seriously folks: Kudos to Blackstone for joining Twitter, particularly given how vital an information source it has become for those reporters who cover private equity. Few other PE firms out there do as much to help us out, whether it’s via quarterly media calls or its annual reporter dinner. Not because such actions will make us go soft on them, but because open dialogue reduces misunderstandings and helps both of us do our jobs better.