Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT) announced the promotion of Chief Operating Officer Wesley LePatner to CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
LePatner succeeds Frank Cohen, who is retiring as chief executive at the end of the year and will remain with the company as the chairman of the board of directors.
LePatner joined Blackstone in 2014 to spearhead the creation of the Core+ business, including the launch of all three open-ended Core+ strategies (US, Europe and Asia). In a press statement, LePatner observed that BREIT’s portfolio “is over 85% concentrated in data centers, industrial and rental housing, sectors which are benefiting from megatrends and we are well-positioned to capitalize on the highly compelling opportunities in today’s market.”
In a joint statement, Kathleen McCarthy and Nadeem Meghji, global co-heads of Blackstone Real Estate, said, “This announcement effectuates the next stage of BREIT’s long-planned succession. We are incredibly fortunate to have a colleague of Wesley’s caliber, who has been intimately involved with BREIT since inception. Wesley will seamlessly step in at a time when real estate values have begun to recover. Frank has been a valuable partner and mentor to all of us and we are incredibly grateful for his dedication to the business.”
BREIT is externally managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), a global leader in real estate investing.
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