Blackstone’s Real Estate Co-Head to Exit

Kathleen McCarthy, co-head of global real estate at Blackstone, said on Tuesday that she will leave the company by the end of the year.

McCarthy, who revealed her planned departure in a LinkedIn post, has held the position since 2018, when she was appointed along with Ken Caplan. During her time at Blackstone, she has worked to grow the firm’s real estate investment business to $320 billion in assets.

McCarthy joined Blackstone in 2010 and worked in real estate investor relations and business development, her LinkedIn profile notes. She was appointed global chief operating officer of the real estate business in 2014. Prior to joining Blackstone, she worked in Goldman Sachs’ mergers and acquisition group.

Following McCarthy’s departure, Nadeem Meghji, the company’s other co-head of real estate, will remain as the business’ sole leader. Meghji has been with the company for 18 years and moved into his current role in 2024 after Caplan became the company’s global co-chief investment officer.

McCarthy said in her LinkedIn post that she plans to travel and spend time with her family after leaving Blackstone but did not discuss future career plans.

Today’s announcement comes two months after the company made several major executive appointments, including Katie Keenan as CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust; Zaneta Koplewicz, promoted to BREIT’s co-president; and Tom Johnson, named Keenan’s successor as CEO of Blackstone Mortgage Trust.