Jon Gray
Jon Gray is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group, one of the world's leading investment firms. In these roles, he oversees the firm's operations globally, including its leading investment business focused on private equity, real estate, credit, insurance, and many more. He also serves as a member of Blackstone's Board of Directors, and sits on the firm's Management Committee and most of its investment committees. Gray joined Blackstone Group in 1992 and later served as the firm's Global Head of Real Estate. Under his leadership, Blackstone's real estate investments grew to be the largest commercial real estate platform in the world, now managing $208 billion in investor capital. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hilton Worldwide. He orchestrated the $26 billion buyout of Hilton hotels in 2007 then took it public again in 2013; the IPO was then the biggest ever for a hotel firm. Gray is also well known for his philanthropist activities.
Jon Gray Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Chairman of the Board
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President and Chief Operating Officer
Academic History
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BA English
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BS Economics
BLACKSTONE
Gray joined Blackstone in 1992 as an analyst in its private equity and M&A practice before moving to real estate.
He began to garner major attention on Wall Street during the LBO Boom, when he oversaw the joint takeover of Trizec and the LBOs of Equity Office Properties and Hilton.
He is considered a potential successor to Blackstone co-founder and CEO, Steve Schwarzman.
PHILANTHROPY
Gray is the Co-Founder of the Gray Foundation, focused on two mandates: awareness, treatment and prevention of BRCA-related cancers and maximizing education, healthcare and opportunity for low-income youth in NYC.
Gray and his wife established the Basser Center for BRCA at UPenn, focused on the prevention and treatment of certain genetically caused cancers.
They also established NYC Kids RISE in partnership with the City of New York to accelerate college savings for low income children.
MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
Gray has been featured and profiled in numerous financial media outlets and publications.
He has appeared at Forbes, Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and more.