Former President and COO of The Blackstone Group
Tony James is an internationally recognized investor and leader in global finance, having served for many years as President and COO of The Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager with approximately $1 trillion in assets under management. In that role, he oversaw businesses and operations in all major countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
He currently is Chairman of Jefferson River Capital, a private investment group. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Costco Wholesale Corp., the world's third largest retailer, Co-Chair of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Mount Sinai Hospital System, and Chairman and co-founder of Ed Advancement, which provides critical infrastructure support to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, serving over two-thirds of all HBCU students. He was also appointed by President Joe Biden to be a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. He served as commissioner of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and continues to serve on numerous other charitable, corporate, and public sector boards.
He co-authored Rescuing Retirement, a book proposing a solution to America's looming retirement crisis, and has published numerous articles in The Wall Street Journal and other major publications.
He graduated from Harvard College Magna Cum Laude as a John Harvard Scholar (top 5%) and from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar.