Joe Baratta to Join Blackstone’s Board of Directors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced that Joe Baratta, the firm’s Global Head of Private Equity, will join its board of directors.

Mr. Baratta has been with Blackstone for 22 years, including overseeing its corporate private equity business since 2012. Under his leadership, the private equity business has expanded significantly to include dedicated strategies focused on core private equity, energy, Asia, and life sciences. Mr. Baratta has also served as a member of the firm’s Management Committee for the last eight years and sits on many of Blackstone’s investment committees.

Commenting on the appointment, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder, said: “Joe is a home-grown talent who epitomizes the core qualities that have made our firm successful. His judgment, integrity, investment expertise, and deep understanding of our industry and company will be an asset to the board, and we look forward to his contributions in this new capacity.”

Jon Gray, Blackstone President and COO, said: “Joe has been an outstanding leader of our world-class private equity franchise. His commitment to our people and our investors is extraordinary. He is a fantastic addition to our board and we’re grateful that he’ll bring his insights to this additional role.”

Mr. Baratta joined Blackstone in 1998 and in 2001 he moved to London as Blackstone was setting up its corporate private equity business in Europe. In 2012, he returned to New York and became Blackstone’s Global Head of Private Equity. Mr. Baratta is a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown University; is a trustee of the Tate Foundation; serves on the board of Year Up, an organization focused on youth employment; and serves on the Board of Trustees of Trinity School in New York City. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with $571 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.