Meet the new head of Blackstone’s BREIT following tragic shooting

Summary

Katie Keenan has been named CEO of Blackstone’s BREIT, the firm’s $105 billion real-estate fund for wealthy individual investors, and will also serve as global head of its Core+ real-estate strategy. She succeeds Wesley LePatner, who was fatally shot this summer in an attack at Blackstone’s Manhattan headquarters that also claimed other lives. Keenan, 41, has been at Blackstone for 13 years and previously served as co-chief investment officer for the firm’s real-estate debt business and CEO of Blackstone Mortgage Trust. Tim Johnson will take on leadership of the mortgage trust.

Keenan played key roles in major deals — including Blackstone’s $23 billion purchase of GE’s real estate business — and has been featured in Business Insider’s Rising Stars series. Her appointment is presented as part of Blackstone’s effort to ensure continuity across its vast real-estate operations after the firm’s recent tragedy.

Key Points

Katie Keenan named CEO of BREIT and global head of Core+ real estate at Blackstone.
She succeeds Wesley LePatner, who was killed in a shooting at Blackstone’s NYC headquarters this summer.
BREIT is a $105 billion fund serving wealthy individual investors.
Keenan has 13 years’ tenure at Blackstone, formerly co-CIO of real-estate debt and CEO of Blackstone Mortgage Trust.
Tim Johnson will lead the mortgage trust and chair its board after the leadership shuffle.
Keenan worked on high-profile transactions such as Blackstone’s $23bn GE real-estate purchase and substantial construction financing deals.

Context and relevance

This is a significant leadership change at one of the world’s largest real-estate platforms, coming in the wake of a violent incident that disrupted the firm’s senior ranks. For investors, partners and competitors, the appointment signals Blackstone’s intent to maintain operational stability and continuity across its retail-facing and institutional real-estate products. It also highlights the firm’s depth of internal talent and the increasing prominence of senior women leaders in large alternative-asset managers.

Why should I read this?

Quick and to the point: new boss, big fund, and it follows a shocking event at Blackstone — so if you care about who runs major pools of property capital or want a read on how the industry handles sudden leadership shocks, this is relevant. We’ve cut the noise and pulled the essentials so you don’t have to.