- Nearly a third of Blackstone’s real estate senior managing directors have left over three years, including global head Nadeem Meghji, who departs at year-end, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Senior executives earn about $2 million in salary and bonus, but carried interest that once reached $15 million is drying up, and four of 13 funds with ended investment periods are below return thresholds.
- A 2019 fund has returned just 3% through September, so the exodus signals how long weak performance can strain even the industry’s largest firm.
Blackstone’s real estate group is losing senior talent at a pace that has shaken the firm, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nearly a third of its senior managing directors have left in three years, as fund returns slumped and carried-interest checks shrank.
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Who Has Left
Global head Nadeem Meghji, who joined in 2008 and became sole head in January, is leaving at year-end. His former co-head, Kathleen McCarthy Baldwin, left last year after 15 years.
Two top real estate credit executives joined Starwood Capital, and the head of strategic investments in the Americas started his own firm. Former senior managing director Tyler Henritze has since raised $1.9B for the second fund at the firm he co-founded.
A Blackstone spokeswoman told the Journal the number of senior partners in the group is unchanged and pointed to 45 partners with an average tenure of 14 years.
The Pay Problem
Senior real estate executives typically earn about $2M a year in salary and regular bonus, according to recruiters and former executives cited by the Journal. In good years, carried interest added as much as $15M for a senior managing director, and more for a business head.
Recruiter Darin White Eydenberg of Highridge Search told the Journal that many top dealmakers feel their opportunity has plateaued and want to prove they can build something themselves.
The Fund Math
A fund that closed in 2012 with $13.3B has earned an annualized 14% net through September and generated about $3B of carry, with roughly $1B going to employees, according to compensation experts cited by the Journal.
A $20.5B fund that closed in 2019 was below its return hurdle as of June and has returned only 3% through September. In its 2025 annual report, four of 13 funds with ended investment periods were below the threshold for carry.
Why It Matters
Blackstone manages more than $300B in real estate, so the departures test its reputation as the industry’s gold standard. Its February SEC filing reported “limited appreciation in aggregate” in 2025, with data center strength offset by life sciences office, student housing and select logistics.
The firm is still leaning into data centers, as we saw when BREIT put $7B of sale proceeds there. Starwood, which hired the credit executives, has also pivoted toward AI-driven sectors under president Jonathan Pollack, a former Blackstone executive, as we noted when it closed its $10.2B fund.
What’s Next
Pension Real Estate Association research head Greg MacKinnon told the Journal that investors in these funds have to be worried when executives leave. More departures and the 2019 fund’s path to its hurdle are what to watch.
