Starwood Capital Group’s chief executive and chairman doesn’t seem to be a fan of the Federal Reserve. The billionaire behind the real estate investment firm, Barry Sternlicht, has mocked and blamed the institution and its chair, Jerome Powell, on several occasions. Sternlicht once referred to the Fed as “Jay Powell and his merry band of lunatics” in an interview with Fortune, claiming there would be “social unrest” because of its monetary tightening. On another occasion, he called the Fed’s interest rate hikes “self-inflicted suicide.” Of course, some of his angst could have to do with the impact rate increases may have had on his own business, which has invested in and managed billions in real estate assets during the past three decades
In an interview with CNBC yesterday, Sternlicht didn’t change his tune, although he was less colorful. “This is my problem with Powell,” he said: “His policy has now crushed multifamily starts; we need houses.”
