Michael Nash

Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Global Chairman of BREDS

Michael B. Nash has been a Director since 2012 and is the Executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Nash is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone and the Chairman of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. He is also a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. Mr. Nash has also served as a trustee of three registered investment companies in the Blackstone Real Estate Income Fund complex since October 2013. Mr. Nash is also a member of the Board of Directors of Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Nash was with Merrill Lynch from 1997 to 2007 where he led the firm’s Real Estate Principal Investment Group—Americas. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Nash was a Senior Vice President at Barclays Bank, where he worked from 1991 to 1997 in the bank’s loan restructuring group. Prior to Barclays, he originated and structured real estate loans for Bank of Nova Scotia. Additionally, Mr. Nash worked at Deloitte & Touche serving brokerage and other institutional clients. Mr. Nash graduated from State University of New York at Albany and received an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Katie Keenan

Chief Executive Officer and Senior Managing Director

Katie Keenan is Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, a publicly-traded commercial mortgage REIT managed by Blackstone, and a Senior Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies group. Ms. Keenan is a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, and is based in New York.

Before joining Blackstone in 2012, Ms. Keenan held positions at G2 Investment Group, Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds and in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Lehman Brothers.

Ms. Keenan graduated cum laude with an A.B. in History from Harvard College. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Getting Out and Staying Out, sits on the Advisory Board of NYPEN Real Estate and is a member of WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate.

Jonathan Pollack

Global Head of Blackstone Structured Finance and Senior Managing Director

Jonathan Pollack is the Global Head of Blackstone Structured Finance, which includes Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Asset Based Finance. Structured Finance originates loans and invests in securities across a variety of asset finance markets, including commercial and residential real estate, consumer finance, transportation and digital infrastructure. Mr. Pollack joined Blackstone in 2015, and previously served as the Global Head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Pollack was a Managing Director and Global Head of Commercial Real Estate at Deutsche Bank, which he joined in 1999. Mr. Pollack received a BA in Economics from Northwestern University. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the East Harlem Tutorial Program.

Kenneth Caplan

BX Global Co-Head of Real Estate and Senior Managing Director

Kenneth A. Caplan is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Investment Officer of the Real Estate Group. Since joining Blackstone in 1997, Mr. Caplan has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate acquisitions and initiatives in the United States, Europe and Asia. These include major acquisitions such as Equity Office Properties, Hilton Hotels, Trizec Properties and La Quinta. Prior to his current role, Mr. Caplan was Head of Real Estate Europe. Before joining Blackstone, he was at Lazard Frères & Co. in the real estate investment banking group. Mr. Caplan received an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a John Harvard Scholar. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep.

Kathleen McCarthy

BX Global Co-Head of Real Estate and Senior Managing Director

Kathleen McCarthy is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Operating Officer of the Blackstone Real Estate group. She is based in New York. Ms. McCarthy oversees Real Estate Investor Relations and Business Development, Human Resources, Legal & Compliance and Finance. Previously she was responsible for marketing Blackstone’s real estate private investment funds. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Ms. McCarthy worked at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Vice President focused on investments for the Real Estate Principal Investment Area. Ms. McCarthy began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the Mergers & Strategic Advisory Group within the Investment Banking Division. Ms. McCarthy received a BA with Distinction from Yale University.

Nadeem Meghji

Head of Real Estate Americas and Senior Managing Director

Nadeem Meghji is a Senior Managing Director in the Real Estate group and Head of Real Estate Americas. Mr. Meghji has played a leadership role in Blackstone’s investment activity in the US, including the acquisition of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Biomed Realty Trust, and Brixmor Property Group. Before joining Blackstone in 2008, Mr. Meghji worked as an associate at the Lionstone Group. Mr. Meghji received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He received a JD from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Meghji serves as a board member for the Lupus Research Alliance and is the Co-Chair of the annual Rally Against Lupus fundraiser. Mr. Meghji was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2018.

Stephen Plavin

Senior Managing Director

Stephen Plavin is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies group and oversees its business in Europe. Mr. Plavin is a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee for both Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, and he is based in New York.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Plavin was Chief Executive Officer of Capital Trust, Inc and CT Investment Management Co., LLC, a commercial real estate debt investment manager and rated special servicer that was wholly owned by Capital Trust and acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. Prior to joining Capital Trust in 1998, Mr. Plavin was co-head of Global Real Estate for The Chase Manhattan Bank and Chase Securities Inc.

Mr. Plavin received a B.A. from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Tim Johnson

Global Head of BREDS and Senior Managing Director

Timothy Johnson is a Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, based in New York. Mr. Johnson is responsible for overseeing Blackstone’s commercial and residential real estate debt investment strategies and is also a member of the firm’s real estate investment committee. Before joining Blackstone in 2011, Mr. Johnson was a co-founder of BroadPeak Funding, a boutique commercial real estate finance company based in Los Angeles. Prior to founding BroadPeak, Mr. Johnson was a Vice President in the Lehman Brothers Global Commercial Real Estate Group where he worked from 2002-2008. While at Lehman his responsibilities included sourcing, structuring, underwriting and executing large structured finance transactions as well as select equity investments. Mr. Johnson received a BA in Mathematics from the College of the Holy Cross where he graduated cum laude.

Rob Harper

Head of BX Real Estate US Asset Management and Senior Managing Director

Rob Harper is a Senior Managing Director and Head of U.S. Asset Management in the Real Estate group. Since joining Blackstone in 2002, Mr. Harper has been involved in analyzing Blackstone’s real estate equity and debt investments in all property types. Mr. Harper has previously worked for Blackstone in Los Angeles and London, where he served as Head of Europe for the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies business. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Harper worked for Morgan Stanley’s real estate private equity group in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mr. Harper received a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

Will Skinner

Senior Managing Director

William Skinner is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Since joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Skinner has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate transactions including the financing of Invitation Homes, Logicor, Indcor, GE Real Estate, Office First, Equity Office Properties, Sponda, Brixmor, BRE Select and Hilton. Mr. Skinner has previously worked for Blackstone in London where he served as Head of European Capital Markets.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Skinner worked at Goldman Sachs where he was an Associate in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group.

Mr. Skinner received a BA from Princeton University and a MBA from Wharton, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar and received the Robert Linneman Memorial Fellowship and Jerome Freedman Memorial Award.

Michael Wiebolt

Senior Managing Director

Mike Wiebolt is a Senior Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies group, where he is involved in investments in liquid real estate debt.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Wiebolt was a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. While at Goldman, Sachs, Mr. Wiebolt was most recently responsible for trading high yield CMBS and CRE CDOs.

Mr. Wiebolt holds a BA in History from Carleton College, where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Wiebolt also received a Master’s in Business Administration from the Columbia Graduate School of Business.

Douglas Armer

Executive Vice President, Capital Markets, Treasurer and Managing Director

Douglas N. Armer is our Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Treasurer. He is also a Managing Director in the Real Estate Debt Strategies group at Blackstone and is a member of our Manager’s investment committee. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Armer was a Managing Director at Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. As a Managing Director at Capital Trust, Mr. Armer was responsible for the firm’s capital markets and finance activities, encompassing equity, debt and strategic transactions, as well as oversight of regulatory matters. Prior to joining Capital Trust, Inc. in 2004, Mr. Armer was responsible for developing the India-based capital markets group of Global Realty Outsourcing. Previously Mr. Armer held positions in investment banking at Gerard Klauer Mattison and at PaineWebber Commercial Real Estate Securities. Mr. Armer holds a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Anthony Marone, Jr

Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director

Anthony F. Marone, Jr. serves as our Chief Financial Officer and has previously served as our Principal Accounting Officer since 2013 and as our Controller since 2008. Mr. Marone is also a Managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, which encompasses all of Blackstone’s commercial real estate debt investment vehicles, including the Company. Before joining Blackstone in 2012, Mr. Marone was a Vice President and Controller of Capital Trust, Inc. whose wholly owned manager was acquired by Blackstone in December 2012. Previously, Mr. Marone worked in the Real Estate Assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he provided audit and other assurance services to various real estate companies. Mr. Marone received a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University and is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Austin Pena

Executive Vice President, Investments

Austin Peña is a Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group. Mr. Peña is involved in sourcing, underwriting and structuring commercial real estate debt investments across all asset types.

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Peña worked at Barclays in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group, where he was involved in advising REITs and other real estate companies on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and capital markets transactions. Prior to joining Barclays, Mr. Peña worked in a similar capacity at Lehman Brothers.

Mr. Peña graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Leon Volchyok

Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Leon Volchyok has served as our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since January 2016. Mr. Volchyok is a Managing Director in Blackstone’s Real Estate group, based in New York. He plays a key role in the structuring, launch and operations of the Real Estate group’s public vehicles, handles the legal affairs for the Real Estate Debt Strategies group and is involved in a number of other legal initiatives throughout the business. He also serves as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for both Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and the Blackstone Real Estate Income Funds (BREIF). Prior to joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Volchyok was a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Capital Markets group at Proskauer Rose LLP, where he specialized in capital markets transactions and general securities law and corporate governance matters, with a focus on REITs and other real estate companies. Mr. Volchyok received a BBA from Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business and a JD from Fordham Law School.

Weston Tucker

Head of Investor Relations and Senior Managing Director

Weston Tucker is a Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor Relations, and is also Head of Investor Relations for Blackstone. Since joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Tucker’s primary responsibility has been managing Blackstone’s interface with public shareholders and the equity analyst community. Before joining Blackstone in 2007, Mr. Tucker was an equity research analyst for JPMorgan, covering the telecom and cable sectors. He began his career at AT&T, where he worked in a variety of finance roles including investor relations and communications, as well as corporate development. Mr. Tucker graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Business Administration from Ohio State University.

Michael Eglit

Managing Director

Michael Eglit is a Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group. Since joining Blackstone, Mr. Eglit has handled evaluation of real estate debt investments in several property types. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Mr. Eglit worked for Wrightwood Capital, where he worked on the origination, underwriting, and asset management of structured senior debt, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and JV equity commercial real estate investments. Mr. Eglit graduated with honors in Economics from Lehigh University and received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Robert Sitman

Head of Loan Asset Management and Managing Director

Robert Sitman serves as our Head of Loan Asset Management. He is also a Managing Director and Global Head of Asset Management of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, which encompasses all of Blackstone’s commercial real estate debt investment vehicles, including the Company. Since joining Blackstone in 2014, Mr. Sitman has been involved in originating, structuring, executing and asset managing real estate debt investments across all asset types and geographies. Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Sitman was an associate in the Real Estate group of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where he represented owners, developers, investors and lenders in commercial real estate transactions. Mr. Sitman received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where he graduated cum laude.

Michael Nagelberg

Managing Director

Michael Nagelberg is a Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group, based in New York. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Nagelberg was a Principal at TPG and was responsible for originating, acquiring, and structuring real estate debt investments across various property types in the United States. Prior to TPG, Mr. Nagelberg was an Associate in Deutsche Bank’s Real Estate Special Situations Group where he was involved in loan origination, acquisition, and asset management. Mr. Nagelberg started his career with Antares and then Warburg Pincus focusing on real estate investment, development, and underwriting. Mr. Nagelberg graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Economics and Finance.

Jimmy Yung

Managing Director

Jimmy Yung is a Managing Director in Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies based in Los Angeles and oversees West Coast debt investments. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Yung was Head of Originations and member of the Investment Committee for TPG Real Estate Finance Trust. Previously, he was Head of Originations for Deutsche Bank’s US Commercial Real Estate Special Situations business focused on principal high yield finance and distressed debt acquisitions. Mr. Yung received a BA from Georgetown University.

J.T. Sizemore

Managing Director

J.T. Sizemore is a Managing Director of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Mr. Sizemore is involved in sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and structuring debt investments across all asset types and geographies.

Before joining Blackstone in 2014, Mr. Sizemore worked in real estate private equity acquisitions roles with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing in San Francisco and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners in Los Angeles. Mr. Sizemore also worked as a developer with The Kor Group and as a strategy consultant with Bain & Company.

Mr. Sizemore graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California and received an M.B.A. from Wharton, where he was a Palmer Scholar.

Clarke Hitch

Managing Director

Clarke Hitch is a Managing Director in the Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group, where he is involved in sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and structuring senior loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other debt investments across all asset types and geographies throughout the U.S.

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2013, Mr. Hitch worked at Morgan Stanley in the Commercial Real Estate Lending Group.

Mr. Hitch graduated from Duke University with an AB in Public Policy.

Paul Kolodziej

Head of Accounting

Paul Kolodziej has served as BXMT’s Head of Accounting since February 2021. Mr. Kolodziej has also served as the Chief Accounting Officer of BREIT since March 2019. Mr. Kolodziej is also a Managing Director with Blackstone Real Estate and served as controller of BREIT from June 2016 to March 2019. Prior to joining Blackstone in June 2016, Mr. Kolodziej was a Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), where he provided assurance services to financial service clients focused on REITs, private real estate funds and hedge funds. During his time at PwC, Mr. Kolodziej also completed a two year rotation in PwC’s SEC Services Group within their National Office, focusing on client consultations over a wide range of matters related to security registrations and ongoing SEC filing requirements. Mr. Kolodziej received a BS in Accountancy from DePaul University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Courtney Cheng

Vice President of Finance

Courtney Cheng has served as BXMT’s Vice President of Finance since January 2022. Since joining Blackstone in 2015, Ms. Cheng’s primary responsibility is overseeing the financial/portfolio reporting and accounting functions for BXMT. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2015, Ms. Cheng was a Senior Associate at KPMG in its real estate tax practice. Ms. Cheng received a B.S. in Finance and Accountancy, in addition to a M.S. in Accountancy from New York University and is a Certified Public Accountant.