Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of the Blackstone Group, has a lot to celebrate these days. For one thing, he's on the verge of winning a bidding war that would reign as the largest buyout ever. Vornado could always make another offer, however. On top of that, he's going to turn 60 next month, and a huge party is planned. More than 1,500 have been invited and the list read like a who's who of Wall Street: CEOs of Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns as well as a slew of society figures. Ed Kennedy and Condi Rice will not be able to make it, however. Many think Schwarzman is in the process of eclipsing Henry Kravis [1] as the top buyout maven on Wall Street. This is starting to look like a coronation, but perhaps that's the idea.

For more:
- here's a New York Times article [2]