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🍋 Blackstone’s Data Center Push

🍋 Blackstone’s Data Center Push

Plus: Dimon says AI could shrink the workweek to four days, oil prices jump most since 2022, Zuck buys $170M Miami house, and the most socially useful way to spend a $1B.

Short Squeez
March 03, 2026

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"At some point there'll be too many AI data centers." — Michael Dell

Good Morning! Mark Zuckerberg bought a $170 million Miami mansion, becoming the latest billionaire to flee to Florida from California. Oil prices posted their biggest jump since 2022 amid the Iran conflict, and stocks clawed back early losses in the first real market test of the fallout.

Citadel is rebounding from a rocky 2025 and beat the S&P 500 in February. Jamie Dimon says AI could eventually shrink the workweek to four days. And retail investors are pulling back from private credit funds after Blue Owl gated withdrawals.

Plus: Nvidia is investing $4 billion in photonics firms Coherent and Lumentum, PE is taking over AES in a $33 billion deal led by BlackRock and EQT, and what’s the most socially useful way to spend a billion dollars?

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SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Blackstone’s Data Center Push

Blackstone is launching a publicly traded REIT to buy data centers, and the move could let retail investors buy a direct stake in the infrastructure powering the AI boom.

The vehicle is intentionally simple: acquire already-built, income-producing, leased data centers. Blackstone will avoid speculative land plays and construction risk, focusing instead on stabilized assets with contracted cash flow.

Sovereign wealth funds are expected to seed the initial capital, but the longer-term ambition is to scale into the tens of billions through public markets, putting Blackstone in direct competition with Digital Realty and Equinix, both of which have ridden the AI rally to strong rallies in recent years.

JLL estimates the buildout could demand as much as $3 trillion by 2030, and Blackstone has been positioning for this moment for years. Taking the vehicle public broadens the capital base, creates liquidity, and, maybe most importantly for Blackstone, establishes a transparent market benchmark for data center valuations. Executives reportedly view it as a pricing barometer for the broader industry.

There’s also a question for investors: when a private asset manager moves stabilized assets into a public wrapper, is it raising fresh growth capital or providing liquidity to earlier fund investors? The answer is likely both, which isn’t inherently negative, but it’s a distinction public investors should understand from the outset.

The bull case almost sells itself: AI demand is booming, hyperscalers are locking in long-term leases, and stabilized data centers generate durable cash flows. Retail investors have historically been shut out of this return stream.

But the bear case is just as real. Rents in primary markets sit at record highs, valuations have expanded quickly, and model-efficiency gains, including breakthroughs like DeepSeek, could temper future compute demand. Meanwhile, the ongoing capex burden is relentless. Data centers rank among the most capital-intensive assets in real estate, with constant upgrades required for power, cooling, and density.

Takeaway: Blackstone is institutionalizing AI infrastructure and pricing it, packaging it, and selling it to Main Street. Whether this is the first step towards democratized access to the most important infrastructure buildout of the decade, or private equity inviting public investors to pay for the most capital-intensive part of the cycle remains to be seen. For now, Wall Street has built the rails for the AI economy, and the next step may be selling tickets to everyone else.

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HEADLINES

Markets Rundown

Market Update

U.S. equities recovered from sharp early losses and finished modestly higher following escalating U.S.–Israel strikes on Iran
The S&P 500 remains about 2%–3% below all-time highs and roughly 17% higher over the past year
Global equities closed lower, reflecting heavier oil-import reliance outside the U.S.
Treasury yields moved higher amid concerns that rising oil prices could lift inflation
U.S. dollar strengthened; gold rose about 1% on safe-haven demand
WTI crude surged and is now near $71, after already rising roughly 15% year-to-date

Geopolitical Developments

The U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, prompting retaliatory counterattacks across multiple cities in the Middle East
Iran produces roughly 4% of global oil supply and controls the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil flows
Oil markets are likely to be the primary transmission channel for economic impact
The U.S. remains a net petroleum exporter, and energy spending as a share of GDP is structurally lower than in past decades
The EIA continues to project global oil oversupply through 2026

Economic & Policy Implications

Rising oil prices could lift near-term inflation expectations, helping explain higher Treasury yields
Inflationary pressure becomes more meaningful only if elevated energy prices persist
With affordability a key issue ahead of mid-term elections, policy incentives likely favor limiting sustained oil price spikes

Movers & Shakers

(+) Coherent ($COHR) +15% after Nvidia will invest $2B into the optical materials maker.
(–) Norwegian Cruise Line ($NCLH) -11% because the cruise line missed on earnings.
(–) AES Corp ($AES) -18% after the utility and power generation company will be taken private by BlackRock and EQT.

Prediction Markets

Citrini’s dystopian article was enough to send shockwaves in the markets. Will it happen? (see our rebuttal)
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Private Dealmaking

EQT and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners will acquire AES Corp. for $33.4 billion
Magellan Financial Group will acquire Barrenjoey Capital Partners for about $1.1 billion
Searchlight Capital Partners and Abry Partners will acquire Kore for $726 million
Lawhive, a consumer legal-tech platform, raised $60 million
SolveAI, a no-code complaint software platform, raised $45 million
Astelia, a cybersecurity platform, raised $35 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

BOOK OF THE DAY

Crisis Point

Description: A tactical deep dive into market crashes and the warning signs that precede them. Bulmez examines historical collapses, identifies recurring stress indicators, and outlines practical survival strategies for investors navigating extreme volatility. The focus is not prediction theater but preparation, helping readers recognize structural fragility before panic sets in and capital preservation becomes paramount.

Book Length: 224 pages
Release Date: March 15, 2025

Ideal For: Active investors, risk managers, macro watchers, and anyone serious about understanding downside protection in turbulent markets.

“Markets do not collapse without signals. The real question is whether you are trained to see them.”

DAILY VISUAL

Instagram vs TikTok

Source: Chartr

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DAILY ACUMEN

Excuses

Every person who stays somewhere they've outgrown has a story that makes it make sense.

The timing isn't right. The market is uncertain. The situation is complicated.

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A story that keeps you comfortable today is borrowing against your future self.

At some point the interest comes due, and the cost of staying becomes higher than any risk you were avoiding by not leaving.

ENLIGHTENMENT

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