Blackstone Inc. paid $87.8 million in legal fees to Kirkland & Ellis LLP in 2025, marking a decline from the $101.3 million the law firm earned from the alternative asset manager in 2024, according to a securities filing.
The disclosure was made in Blackstone’s Annual Report filed pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
Blackstone is required to disclose the payments as Kirkland partner Reginald J. Brown serves on its board of directors. Brown was elected to the board effective September 15, 2020.
“Our relationship with Kirkland pre-dates Brown’s appointment to our board of directors,” Blackstone said in the filing, adding that it engages the firm “from time to time in the ordinary course of business to provide legal services to us and our subsidiaries.”
According to the disclosure, Brown’s interest in the fees is estimated to be less than 1% of the total amount paid.
Kirkland & Ellis has recently advised Blackstone on a series of transactions aimed at scaling AI capacity, expanding data centre infrastructure and investing in energy transition assets. Key mandates last year included a $10 billion debt financing facility for AI infrastructure company Firmus; the acquisitions of Arlington Industries and Alliance Technical Group, an environmental testing, monitoring and compliance services provider; and participation in a Series L funding round in Databricks, a data and AI company.
Blackstone had earlier disclosed that it paid approximately $41.6 million in legal fees to Kirkland in 2023, $53.4 million in 2022, and $69.6 million in 2021, underscoring a steady rise in payouts before the dip in 2025.
