Blackstone Names Levine and Cutaia Real Estate Co-Heads

Blackstone is replacing its global head of real estate, Nadeem Meghji, who is leaving the world's largest commercial property owner at the end of this year. The firm has raise two long-serving executives, David Levine and Giovanni Cutaia, to succeed him as co-heads of the business, according to an internal memo from CEO Steve Schwarzman and president Jon Gray seen by Bloomberg.

Meghji plans to spend time with his family before seeking new opportunities. The Wall Street Journal first reported this leadership shift, which Blackstone confirmed. This marks the second top-level exit from Blackstone's real estate arm in under a year. Meghji had become sole global head only in January, after his former co-head Kathleen McCarthy departed in November following a 15-year tenure.

The memo from Schwarzman and Gray stated they now view real estate as "one of the most compelling investment environments we have seen in years." This follows a period where high borrowing costs depressed commercial property values. According to the Journal, about a dozen senior managing directors have left Blackstone's 45-person real estate leadership group over the past three years.

President Jon Gray addressed the turnover. "Despite this departure, we have a business with an enormous amount of continuity and tremendous talent," Gray told the Journal. "And David and Gio are prime examples of that."

Leadership Transition

Nadeem Meghji joined Blackstone in 2008. He worked on major deals like the acquisitions of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village and Brixmor Property Group. He became head of Real Estate Americas in 2017 and was promoted to global co-head in January 2024. Meghji held a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He became sole global head this past January after co-head Kathleen McCarthy's departure. McCarthy had co-led the approximately $320 billion business with him for two years.

The Americas role Meghji left vacant in January was filled by David Levine. This week's promotion of Levine and Cutaia represents the second major leadership change in Blackstone's real estate division in less than a year.

The New Co-Heads

David Levine joined Blackstone in 2010. He previously served as co-head of the firm's Americas acquisitions team, working on over $100 billion in real estate investments. His deal sheet includes the acquisitions of Gramercy Property Trust and BioMed Realty Trust. Levine also helped build a logistics platform now valued at around $75 billion. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University.

Giovanni Cutaia joined Blackstone in 2014 from Lone Star Funds, where he was senior managing director and co-head of commercial real estate investments for the Americas. Before that, he spent over 12 years in Goldman Sachs' real estate principal investments group in New York and London. Cutaia holds a bachelor's degree from Colgate University and an MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. He was named president of Blackstone Real Estate in January, having previously served as the unit's global chief operating officer and global head of asset management, overseeing more than 12,000 assets.

Business Performance and Outlook

Blackstone's real estate division manages a global portfolio valued at over $608 billion. The overall firm manages more than $1.3 trillion in assets. The business faced challenges after late 2022 when investors rushed to withdraw money from the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT). This forced the non-traded vehicle to limit redemptions for over a year.

Those pressures have subsided. BREIT began fulfilling all redemption requests in early 2024. It recorded its first positive net inflow in four years in the second quarter of 2026, delivering an 11 percent net return to investors over the past 12 months. Blackstone's institutional real estate funds, known as BREP, are currently investing about $50 billion of capital and appreciated 19 percent over the same period.

Blackstone's stock has gained 19.4 percent over the past year, slightly outperforming the S&P 500's 18.4 percent advance. Over a five-year span, however, the stock is up just 24.6 percent, trailing the index's 70.4 percent gain.