(Sept 26): Joe Baratta, the billionaire Blackstone Inc executive and long-time face of its signature buyout fund, is leaving the alternative asset manager by year end after 28 years.

After more than a decade of leading the firm’s private equity (PE) business, Baratta shifted to a new role last year to oversee strategies across the PE unit, which now manages roughly US$450 billion (RM1.83 trillion). 

A Blackstone spokesperson confirmed Baratta’s departure. His current role won’t be filled, according to an internal memo sent to employees on Friday.

“Joe has spent years empowering a team of experienced investors to oversee our individual PE strategies and funds,” chief executive officer Steve Schwarzman and president Jon Gray wrote in the memo. “Given the strength of the leaders for each of our dedicated PE verticals today, we do not intend to replace Joe’s role.” 

While Blackstone had pitched Baratta’s new position as global head of private equity strategies as a bigger role, many inside the firm surmised that it would pave the way for his departure, according to people familiar with the matter, who requested not to be identified discussing private matters. 

Baratta is one of only three executives on Blackstone’s board, alongside Gray and Schwarzman.

The executive’s exit will cap a year in which Blackstone real estate head Nadeem Meghji resigned, as did growth strategy head Jon Korngold.

Under Baratta’s oversight, Blackstone’s PE strategy has grown massively but also had some stumbles amid the broader industry’s recent slump as interest rates climbed.

The firm’s four most recent flagship PE funds that have completed their investing period all had net internal rates of return of 12% or less at the end of June, far from the outsize gains that made the buyout industry’s reputation. The latest flagship fund took longer than expected to raise and only drew US$21 billion, short of initial expectations of US$30 billion.

Still, there are recent positive signs. PE assets, which include infrastructure, secondaries and tactical opportunities, increased 17% in the second quarter from a year earlier.

Broader changes have been afoot at Blackstone, which Gray aims to transform into a money manager for the masses and a major player in the retirement market. 

The firm has also undergone a longer-term evolution during Baratta’s tenure, shifting from a buyout firm to an alternative investment giant with US$1.3 trillion of assets across across private equity, real estate, infrastructure, credit and hedge funds. With the shift, major dealmaking personalities have also exited the firm. 

When Baratta joined Blackstone in 1998, the firm had just completed fundraising for its third PE fund. Three years later, he moved to London to establish the PE business in Europe. He became the global head of the strategy in 2012. Baratta, who had a reputation for being meticulous, worked on several lucrative deals. They include the acquisitions of Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, in which Blackstone ultimately tripled its investment.

In 2025, the firm elevated tech dealmaker Martin Brand and handed him day-to-day management of the flagship global fund that Baratta had been overseeing. For his part, Baratta moved to a broader role as global head of private equity strategies, which required all fund heads in that category to report to him.

In his new position, Baratta — who’s a minority owner of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders — orchestrated professional golfer Tommy Fleetwood becoming Blackstone’s first-ever brand ambassador. He was also part of the conversations alongside Gray with Doug Leone, chairman of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, as the firm developed its thesis on artificial intelligence and ultimately created Blackstone N1, the San Francisco-based platform to tap these investments.

Some said Baratta has held onto his desire to make a splash in his home state of California and potentially explore a run for public office.

Uploaded by Kang Siew Li