GRAY
Jonathan

• 1. Career

Jonathan D. Gray is an American billionaire businessman who is the president and chief operating officer of Blackstone Group, a New York–based asset management firm. He is also the chairman of Hilton Worldwide.

Career

In 1992, Gray joined Blackstone's mergers and acquisitions and private equity group, and joined its newly formed real estate private equity group the following year. He became co-head of the real estate group in 2005 and global head of real estate in 2011, overseeing a portfolio of hotel, office, retail, industrial, and residential properties in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Gray led Blackstone's LBO of Hilton Hotels, which became the most profitable private equity real estate deal ever, earning $14 billion for the firm's investors. Gray continues to act as Chairman of the Board of Hilton Worldwide, which went public in December 2013.

Gray was named in Fortune's "40 under 40," in 2009. In 2016, he ranked #1 on Commercial Observer's "Power 100" ranking of the most powerful people in New York City real estate.

In 2013, Gray helped create a business venture through Blackstone called Invitation Homes to buy foreclosed single-family houses and turn them into rentals. The Wall Street Journal reported that Gray went on the “biggest home buying spree in history” after the foreclosure crisis, spending $10 billion in the company's first four years. The firm would later come under criticism for its business model, and US Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Blackstone for "shamelessly" profiting from the 2008 housing crisis.

In February 2018, it was announced that Gray would become president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, replacing Hamilton "Tony" James in overseeing day-to-day operations of the firm.

As president, Gray encouraged a thematic approach across Blackstone’s businesses, investing in companies or assets that stand to benefit from larger trends, including: shifts to e-commerce, advancements in life sciences, increased demand for data centers due to artificial intelligence, investments related to the energy transition, and the growth of private credit. Gray also led efforts to expand Blackstone's client base outside the typical pool of large institutional investors it historically served, including insurers and individual investors.

Under Gray, in 2023 Blackstone became the first alternative asset manager to reach $1 trillion in assets under management and join the S&P 500.