In a conference call with investors yesterday, Dallas dealmaker Tom Hicks referred to “his friends” at Blackstone Group in reference to his company’s $3.2 billion purchase of Graham Packaging Holdings Co., owned by Blackstone.

Erin Callan doesn’t look like a master of the universe in her crocheted dresses and bright-red leather jackets.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative may soon receive a big boost from the deep-pocketed Peter Peterson.

Texan Tom Hicks made a fortune in leveraged buyouts, won hockey’s Stanley Cup, agreed to give a baseball player the largest contract in sports history, and owns half of one of the world’s most famous soccer teams.

Still, when it comes to impressive resumes, he bows to a founding director of his newest venture, Hicks Acquisition Company I, which completed its initial public offering this week.

Brian Mulroney is a former Prime Minister of Canada and in June became a director of the Blackstone Group, the giant New York-based private equity firm that sold part of itself to the public this year. Mulroney is also a director of Archer Daniels Midland and Wyndham Worldwide, and has been a senior adviser to HM Capital, a successor to Hicks Muse Tate & Furst.

The long-standing rivalry between Henry Kravis and Stephen A. Schwarzman has reached the IPO front.

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts announced plans yesterday to go public, a path recently taken by Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group.

As with Blackstone, the KKR offering calls for the power to remain in the hands of the managing partners. Henry Kravis and George Roberts will retain 75% of the class A shares.

Paris Hilton may be on her way to becoming the Kevin Bacon of her generation.

How is the celebrity jailbird related to private hedge fund baron Stephen A. Schwarzman?

Through Hilton hotels, of course. Schwarzman’s company, Blackstone Group announced yesterday that it would buy the hotel chain for $18.5 billion plus debt. Blackstone already owns LaQuinta Inns and LXR Luxury Resorts.

The biggest beneficiaries of Blackstone Group’s public company debut last week were co-founders Stephen Schwarzman and Pete Peterson.

Schwarzman’s 24-percent stake in the investment firm is worth $7.7 billion and he could earn $677 million from the IPO, according to The New York Times. Peterson, who retains 4 percent ownership of the firm, earned $1.88 billion from the offering.