For the moment, the Blackstone Group retains the title for biggest buyout ever. Of course, it doesn't look like it will last long. People on Wall Street are hoping that Stephen Schwarzman will launch a competing offer for TXU. A KKR vs. Blackstone Group brawl would certainly qualify as a huge event, this generation's equivalent of the RJR war. Some think that Schwarzman has perhaps pushed himself to the top of the alternative investment universe. Fortune seems to agree. "You could call Steve Schwarzman the Master of the Alternative Universe." Such is the praise he has won from media and colleagues, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday in high style. Now, the old saw on Wall Street holds that once the praise, from the media especially, hits critical mass, it serves as a good contrarian indicator. Kind of like Newsweek running a cover story on the market. Stocks are bound to fall. We'll see.

For more:
- here's the profile from Fortune