Key people

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder

Stephen A. Schwarzman is Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone and the Chairman of the board of directors of its general partner, Blackstone Group Management L.L.C.  He has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since its founding in 1985.

Mr. Schwarzman began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he was elected Managing Director in 1978 at the age of 31. He was engaged principally in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions business from 1977 to 1984, and served as Chairman of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Committee in 1983 and 1984.  

Mr. Schwarzman is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Business Council. He is on the board of The New York Public Library, and The Asia Society.  He serves on The JP Morgan Chase National Advisory Board, The New York City Partnership Board of Directors and The Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Mr. Schwarzman is a Trustee of The Frick Collection in New York City and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He also was awarded the Légion d’honneur by President Jacques Chirac.

Mr. Schwarzman holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He has served as an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management and on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors.

Hamilton E. James, President & Chief Operating Officer

Hamilton (“Tony”) E. James is President, Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, and a member of the board of directors of our general partner, Blackstone Group Management L.L.C.  He is also a member of Blackstone’s Management and Executive Committees and sits on each of the firm’s investment committees.

Prior to joining Blackstone Mr. James was Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity at Credit Suisse First Boston and a member of the Executive Board.  Prior to the acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, Mr. James was the Chairman of DLJ’s Banking Group, responsible for all the firm’s investment banking and merchant banking activities.  Mr. James joined DLJ in 1975 as an Investment Banking associate.  He became head of DLJ’s global M&A group in 1982, founded DLJ Merchant Banking, Inc. in 1985, and was named Chairman of the Banking Group in 1995.  He is a Director of Costco Wholesale Corporation and Swift River Investments, Inc., and has served on a number of other corporate Boards.

Mr. James is Vice Chairman of The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, Trustee and member of The Executive Committee of The Second Stage Theatre, Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art , Vice Chairman of Trout Unlimited’s Coldwater Conservation Fund, Trustee of Woods Hole Oceanographic, Trustee of Wildlife Conservation Society, Advisory Board member of The Montana Land Reliance, and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre.  He is also a former member of the President’s Export Council – Subcommittee on Technology & Competitiveness.

Mr. James graduated magna cum laude with a BA from Harvard College in 1973 and was a John Harvard Scholar.  He earned an MBA with high distinction from the Harvard Business School and graduated as a Baker Scholar in 1975.

Garrett M. Moran, Senior Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer of Private Equity

Garrett M. Moran is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Private Equity Group. He is a member of Blackstone’s Executive Committee, as well as all investment committees for the Private Equity Group.

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2005, Mr. Moran was a Senior Principal and the President of MMC Capital. Before joining MMC Capital in 2002, Mr. Moran had a long career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. His last position there was Vice Chairman and co-head of the Banking Group. He joined DLJ in 1982 as an investment banking associate and subsequently headed the firm’s High Yield Bond Department and served as Chief Operating Officer of DLJ’S Taxable Fixed Income Division.  He was Vice Chairman and co-head of the Banking Group of DLJ at the time of the firm’s acquisition by Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation.  Following that acquisition, Mr. Moran served CSFB as co-head of the investment banking integration effort and subsequently was the head of CSFB’s Private Equity Division.

Mr. Moran is a board member of the Posse Foundation and Middlebury College. He formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brunswick School.  He received a BA from Middlebury College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.