NEW YORK CITY—Jonathan Gray, who built Blackstone's real estate business into the world's largest, is now taking on day-to-day management of the entire operation. Blackstone said Tuesday that Gray would succeed Tony James as president and COO as James moves into a new role as executive vice chairman. Ken Caplan and Kathleen McCarthy have been named global co-heads of real estate, succeeding Gray.

Gray joined Blackstone straight out of college in 1992 and has worked there ever since. ““I've learned over the last 26 years that Jon Gray has great judgment, enormous energy and unique personal charisma, which has enabled him to garner enormous respect within the global financial community,” says Steven Schwarzman, Blackstone's co-founder, chairman and CEO. “His strong values and passion for excellence are the embodiment of Blackstone's core principles. The appointment of Jon as president and COO lays the foundation for the next generation of senior management and positions the firm well for future leadership.”

Leader of Blackstone's real estate business since 2005, Gray has grown it into a platform which has more than $115 billion of investor capital and which constitutes the single biggest driver of the firm's revenues. Despite Blackstone's “tremendous success” to date, Gray counts himself “quite excited about the opportunity to continue to innovate for both our investors and shareholders. I look forward to working closely with Steve, Tony and our immensely talented team to help lead this growth while maintaining the highest standards of integrity and investment discipline.”