Blackstone Real Estate Announces Key Leadership Appointments

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced several senior leadership updates within its Real Estate business.

BREIT and Core+ Leadership
Katie Keenan has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“BREIT”) and Global Head of the Core+ Real Estate business. She succeeds Wesley M. LePatner, who served in both roles until her tragic passing on July 28, 2025.

Ms. Keenan is a long-tenured Blackstone executive and has held numerous leadership positions since joining the firm in 2012. She currently serves as Global Co-Chief Investment Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (“BREDS”) and Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE: BXMT), a publicly-traded commercial mortgage REIT managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone. Ms. Keenan has been integral to the success of BXMT and the broader BREDS business, helping grow the BREDS platform to $77 billion today.

Zaneta Koplewicz, currently BREIT Head of Shareholder Relations, has been named Co-President and Director of BREIT with current Co-President, Blackstone veteran A.J. Agarwal. BREIT Interim CEO Rob Harper will resume his long-time role as BREIT Head of Asset Management.

Ms. Keenan said: “Thanks to the dedication of Wesley and many others, BREIT represents some of Blackstone’s finest work. Its strong performance is driven by a portfolio that is ~90% concentrated in sectors that are benefitting from long-term, secular megatrends, particularly data centers. BREIT is incredibly well-positioned and I am looking forward to working with the team to capitalize on the ongoing real estate recovery, with new supply falling sharply, the cost of debt capital coming down, and transaction activity picking up.”

BREIT's highly differentiated portfolio positioning has led to a 9.2% annualized net return on Class I since inception over 8 and a half years ago, over 60% higher than the public REIT index on a cumulative basis.

BXMT Leadership
Tim Johnson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of BXMT, succeeding Ms. Keenan. As the Global Head of BREDS and Chair of BXMT’s Board, Mr. Johnson has played an active role in overseeing BXMT for over a decade and has deep expertise across Blackstone’s commercial real estate credit investment strategies. Mr. Johnson is a seasoned investor and has been with Blackstone since 2011. He will continue as the Global Head of BREDS and Chair of BXMT’s Board.