Jonathan Gray

About Me

Jonathan Gray started at asset manager Blackstone Group fresh out of college in 1992 and later rose to head the firm's vaunted real estate group. Under Gray, Blackstone's real estate division became one of its most valuable branches; it now manages $325 billion in investor capital. 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 was named Blackstone's president and chief operating officer in 2018; he's considered a potential successor to cofounder and CEO Steve Schwarzman. Gray, whose sister-in-law died of ovarian cancer at age 44, has given over $100 million to BRCA- related cancer research. He got his start working as a bus boy at his mother's catering company at age 14.