Kathleen McCarthy, co-director of Blackstone Real Estate, is leaving after fifteen years

One of the most powerful figures in global real estate investing is leaving the building.

Blackstone’s Kathleen McCarthy, who helped build the company’s real estate arm into a $320 billion behemoth, will leave at the end of the year after 15 years at the Bisnow company. reported. McCarthy, 47, has been global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate – the world’s largest private real estate investor – since 2018 and will step down to “explore new opportunities,” the company said. Her co-lead, Nadeem Meghji, 45, will take over as sole head of the company.

McCarthy joined the company in 2008 from Goldman Sachs. Since then, Blackstone’s assets under management have nearly tripled from $115 billion to $320 billion. That growth occurred during multiple real estate cycles: the post-financial crisis boom, the pandemic disruption and the higher interest rate decline that followed in 2022.

She wrote in a LinkedIn post that leading the company’s real estate arm was “one of the great privileges” of her career.

Before taking the top job in 2018, McCarthy was chief operating officer of Blackstone’s real estate division. She acted alongside Ken Caplan when former chief Jon Gray became Blackstone’s president. After Caplan was promoted to global co-CIO last year, Meghji – then head of North American real estate – was elevated to share leadership with McCarthy.

The timing of McCarthy’s departure comes as Blackstone returns to deal mode after selling $16.9 billion of real estate in the first nine months of 2025, roughly in line with last year’s pace.

It is unclear what McCarthy’s next move will be. Blackstone veterans have made waves after leaving the company. Former real estate executive Chad Pike launched fund manager Makarora in 2023, which last month agreed to buy logistics REIT Plymouth Industrial alongside Ares for $2.1 billion.

— Eric Weilbacher

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