BREIT Names Wesley LePatner Future CEO; Frank Cohen to Retire at Year-End

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. announced that Wesley LePatner, currently the chief operating officer of the publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust, will become its chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 2025. She will succeed Frank Cohen, who, after nearly 30 years, plans to retire from Blackstone at year-end. Cohen will remain chairman of BREIT’s board of directors.

“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,” said Kathleen McCarthy and Nadeem Meghji in a joint statement. McCarthy and Meghji are global co-heads of Blackstone Real Estate.

“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,” they added.

Cohen held a number of leadership positions in Blackstone Real Estate since joining in 1996, including overseeing Americas acquisitions, serving as global head of Core+ real estate, and as chairman and CEO of BREIT.

“For almost 30 years, Frank has been a friend, partner and enormous contributor to the success of Blackstone Real Estate. We will all miss him. We are quite pleased he will continue as chairman of BREIT. We are confident that Wesley will continue to drive exceptional performance through her tremendous talent and sector expertise,” said Jon Gray, president and COO of Blackstone.

LePatner joined Blackstone in 2014 to spearhead the creation of the Core+ business, including the launch of all three open-ended Core+ strategies (U.S., Europe, and Asia). She has been integral to the success of these strategies, having helped conceive, build, and operationalize BREIT as COO and a board member.

“I am honored to become CEO of BREIT. Its 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. It has been an honor to work alongside Frank since I joined Blackstone 10 years ago and I wish him the best in his next chapter,” said LePatner.

Since inception over seven and a half years ago, BREIT has delivered a 10% annualized net return on Class I, ~2x publicly traded REITs. BREIT’s differentiated portfolio, which is concentrated in high growth sectors including data centers, warehouses and student housing, and in fast growing Sunbelt markets, has driven this outperformance.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to Steve, Jon, and the entire Blackstone team for creating the culture of excellence that has made this a first-rate place for our employees and investors alike. Wesley is a phenomenal leader and I look forward to seeing her continue to drive exceptional performance for BREIT’s investors,” concluded Cohen.

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., or BREIT, is a perpetual-life, institutional quality real estate investment platform that brings private real estate to income focused investors. BREIT invests primarily in stabilized, income-generating U.S. commercial real estate across key property types and to a lesser extent in real estate debt investments. BREIT had an aggregate net asset value of approximately $55.95 billion as of July 31, 2024.

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