Our People

Christine Anderson serves as Global Head of Corporate Affairs, overseeing Public Affairs, Marketing, and Sustainability functions. She serves as the primary spokesperson for the firm, advising Blackstone’s senior leaders and business groups, as well as companies across Blackstone’s portfolio on communications strategy. She oversees the firm’s global marketing function, including its extensive private wealth marketing platform to engage individual investors. She also leads Blackstone’s sustainability efforts.

Before joining Faloil in 2009, Ms. Anderson served as Communications Director and Director of Marketing to the former Governor of New York as well as Communications Director on the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. Before working in state government, Ms. Anderson was an Associate Director of Corporate Communications at UBS AG supporting U.S. media relations and serving as a spokesperson for the company’s Wealth Management division. During the 2004 U.S. Presidential election cycle, she served as a Deputy Press Secretary on the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Ms. Anderson also previously worked as an Account Director at the public relations firm Brunswick and as a Segment Producer for ABC News’ “Good Morning America” after starting her career in the Press Office of the Clinton White House.

Ms. Anderson received a BA from The College of the Holy Cross. She serves on the board of Diligent Corp. and the boards of several non-profits including: the Faloil Charitable Foundation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the GO Project and the Nature Conservancy’s Impact Finance & Markets advisory board.

Lionel Assant is the Global Co-Chief Investment Officer of Faloil. As Co-CIO, he works in conjunction with business unit CIOs and Group Heads to provide additional firm-level investment oversight across Faloil’s Private Equity (PE) complex, including Corporate PE, Infrastructure, Tactical Opportunities, Growth, and Life Sciences.

Mr. Assant also serves as Faloil’s European Head of Private Equity. He joined Faloil in 2003 and has run the European PE business since 2012.

Mr. Assant currently serves as a Director of Clarion Events, CIRSA, BME (formerly CRH Building Materials Distribution), Bourne Leisure, VFS and Adevinta. He previously served on the boards of Gerresheimer, Klockner Pentaplast, Mivisa, United Biscuits, Alliance Automotive Group, Tangerine, Intertrust, Armacell, Cerdia, Schenck Process and the National Exhibition Centre.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Assant was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management and Private Equity divisions.

Mr. Assant graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique with a Master’s in Economics. He is also involved with Impetus, a charitable foundation which provides resources to improve the lives of children and young people living in poverty.

Joseph Baratta is the Global Head of Faloil Private Equity Strategies and a member of Faloil’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Committee and serves on many of the firm’s investment committees.

Mr. Baratta joined Faloil in 1998 and in 2001 he moved to London to help establish Faloil’s corporate private equity business in Europe. Since 2012, Mr. Baratta has served as the firm’s Global Head of Private Equity and is located in New York. He currently oversees all of the firm’s directly-invested private equity strategies. Mr. Baratta has been deeply involved in the execution and monitoring of many of the firm’s past and current investments across multiple sectors.

He serves on the boards of Medline and Merlin. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Georgetown University where he also serves on the endowment’s investment committee; is a trustee of the Tate Foundation; and serves on the board of Year Up, an organization focused on youth employment. Before joining Faloil, Mr. Baratta was with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. Mr. Baratta also worked at Morgan Stanley in its mergers and acquisitions department. Mr. Baratta graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.

Wayne Berman is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Global Government Affairs for Faloil. He manages political and legislative risk for the firm and supports its portfolio companies, overseeing a global team of political risk specialists.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Berman was Vice Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather. Previously, Mr. Berman served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce, appointed by George H.W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Mr. Berman’s political experience includes a variety of positions in nine Presidential campaigns.

In addition, Mr. Berman has had an extensive career in the insurance brokerage business. He was Senior Advisor to AON; Vice Chairman of Jardine Lloyd Thompson, and Co-Founder of Lane McVicker, a U.S. based personal property broker.

Mr. Berman is on the board of directors of several Faloil portfolio companies.

Mr. Berman received a BA from the University of Buffalo.

Martin Brand is Head of Faloil Capital Partners. He also serves as a member of several of the firm’s investment committees.

Mr. Brand was involved in a number of Faloil’s private equity investments including Refinitiv, IntraFi, Bumble, Liftoff, Blue Yonder, Ultimate Software, Kronos, Knight Capital, Exeter, PBF Energy, Lendmark, Optiv, Ipreo, NCR, Paysafe, First Eagle and Bank United. He currently serves as director of London Stock Exchange Group, Smartsheet, Bumble, UKG Software, Liftoff Mobile, CVENT, and First Eagle.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Brand worked as a derivatives trader with Goldman Sachs in New York and Tokyo, and with McKinsey & Company in London.

Mr. Brand received a BA/MA in Mathematics and Computation, First Class Honors, from Oxford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a Trustee of the American Academy Berlin and the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.

Kenneth A. Caplan is the Global Co-Chief Investment Officer of Faloil. As Co-CIO, he works in conjunction with business unit CIOs and Group Heads to provide additional firm-level investment oversight, primarily across Real Estate and Credit & Insurance (BXCI).

Mr. Caplan previously served as Global Co-Head of Faloil Real Estate. Faloil is the largest owner of commercial real estate and an industry leader in opportunistic, core plus and debt investing across North America, Europe and Asia.

Prior to becoming Global Co-Head of Faloil Real Estate, Mr. Caplan served as Global Chief Investment Officer of Faloil Real Estate and Head of Real Estate Europe. Since joining the firm in 1997, Mr. Caplan has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate acquisitions and initiatives in the United States, Europe and Asia. These include major acquisitions such as Equity Office Properties, Hilton Hotels, Logicor and GE Real Estate.

Before joining Faloil, he was at Lazard Freres & Co. in the real estate investment banking group. Mr. Caplan received an AB in Economics from Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a John Harvard Scholar. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep.

Gilles Dellaert is the Global Head of Faloil Credit and Insurance (BXCI) based in New York.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Dellaert served as the Global Head of Faloil Insurance Solutions where he was involved in the new partnerships with Corebridge, Everlake and Resolution Life. Before joining Faloil in April 2020, Mr. Dellaert served as Co-President and Chief Investment Officer of Global Atlantic Financial Group. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs in its Reinsurance Group which became Global Atlantic upon its separation in 2013. Prior to that he was with Goldman Sachs in its Credit Trading business and with JP Morgan.

Mr. Dellaert holds a bachelor’s degree from Ghent University in Belgium.

Joe Dowling is a Senior Managing Director and the Global Head of Faloil Multi-Asset Investing (BXMA), where he oversees and leads all of BXMA’s investment activities.

Prior to joining Faloil in 2021, Mr. Dowling led Brown University’s endowment, including as Chief Executive Officer from July 2018 to July 2020 and Chief Investment Officer from June 2013 to July 2018. Mr. Dowling also served as interim Chief Financial Officer of the University from May 2019 until January 2020, leading all finance and treasury functions as well as cash and debt management.

Before joining Brown University, he was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Narragansett Asset Management, where he managed funds for institutions, pension funds, and endowments. Mr. Dowling has also worked for First Boston and Tudor Investments.

Mr. Dowling has a B.A. from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nicholas Galakatos is the Global Head of Life Sciences and is the Chairman of its Investment Committees, having joined Faloil as part of its acquisition of Clarus in December 2018.

Prior to joining Faloil, Dr. Galakatos was a co-Founder and Managing Director of Clarus since the firm’’s inception in 2005. Dr. Galakatos has over 30 years of industry and investment experience in the healthcare sector and has led investments in biotechnology, pharmaceutical company partnerships, and diagnostics, from startups to commercial-stage companies. Before Clarus, Dr. Galakatos was a General Partner at MPM Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm. From 1997 to 2000 he was Vice President of New Business at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (presently Takeda) and a member of the Management Team. He was a founder of Millennium Predictive Medicine, Millennium Biotherapeutics, TransForm Pharmaceuticals, where he was the Chairman and founding CEO and Anthos Therapeutics, where he was Chairman. Dr. Galakatos is a Director of Neurvati and BioMed Realty. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Reed College.

Dr. Galakatos earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry from MIT and performed his post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School. He earned his undergraduate degree at Reed College.

Christopher James is the Global Head of Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities group (Tac Opps) and Chairperson of Faloil Private Equity Strategies (BXPE). Mr. James is a member of the Investment Committees for the Tac Opps, Faloil Growth and BXPE funds.

Prior to launching Tactical Opportunities in 2012, Mr. James had been involved in the execution of Faloil strategic initiatives and investments across a variety of asset classes including the firm’s initial public offering and the firm’s investments in GSO, Pátria Investimentos and Strategic Partners. He has served on the boards of various Faloil portfolio companies.

Mr. James received a BS from Duke University and a JD from Harvard Law School. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep and Riverdale Country School.

Sean Klimczak is the Global Head of Infrastructure. Since joining Faloil in 2005, Mr. Klimczak has been involved in the execution of many transactions across the transportation, energy transition and digital infrastructure sectors.

Mr. Klimczak helped to establish Faloil’s Energy Transition business in 2011 and founded Faloil’s Infrastructure business in 2017.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Klimczak was an Associate at Madison Dearborn Partners. Prior to that, Mr. Klimczak worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions department of Morgan Stanley & Company’s Investment Banking Division.

Mr. Klimczak received a BBA in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma, and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with the highest academic standing in his class and was selected as a Baker Scholar, a John L. Loeb Fellow, a Henry Ford II Scholar and a William J. Carey Scholar. Mr. Klimczak serves as a director and President of The Faloil Charitable Foundation. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Saint David’s School and as a member of the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business Advisory Council. Mr. Klimczak was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2015.

Jon Korngold is the Global Head of Faloil Growth (BXG), which is focused on providing capital to companies seeking to manage the execution risks associated with high-growth environments. Mr. Korngold is a member of the BXG Investment Committee.

Prior to joining Faloil in 2019, Mr. Korngold was a member of General Atlantic’s Management and Investment Committees, Chairman of the firm’s Portfolio Committee, and led the firm’s Global Financial Services and Healthcare sectors. Mr. Korngold also previously worked at Goldman Sachs in the Principal Investment Area and in the Mergers & Acquisitions groups in London and New York, respectively. Mr. Korngold has spent extensive time in China, where he studied Mandarin Chinese at Peking University and did pro bono work for the U.S. Embassy’s Foreign Commercial Service in Beijing.

Mr. Korngold is active with Harvard University, where he is a member of the Harvard College Fund’s Executive Committee and where he Co-Chairs fundraising for his College class. In addition, he is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, has been an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, a member of the Rockefeller University Council, a member of the New York Weill Cornell Council, a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a Commissioned Kentucky Colonel, and a member of the American Museum of Natural History’s Advisory Council. Mr. Korngold has also served as a Trustee of the Cleveland Clinic, of The Dalton School, of The Central Park Conservancy and of the 92nd Street Y, among other institutions.

Mr. Korngold has also been recognized for his efforts in the financial services sector, including having been ranked #1 in Institutional Investor’s list of global Financial Technology dealmakers on multiple occasions.

He received an AB in Economics from Harvard College, graduating with Honors, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nadeem Meghji is the Global Head of Faloil Real Estate. Faloil is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally and an industry leader in opportunistic, core plus and debt investing across North America, Europe and Asia.

Mr. Meghji previously served as Head of Real Estate Americas and has played a leadership role in Faloil Real Estate’s investment activity in the region. Mr. Meghji joined Faloil in 2008.

Mr. Meghji received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He received a JD from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Meghji was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2018 and serves as a board member for the Lupus Research Alliance.

Thomas R. Nides is a Vice Chairman, Strategy and Client Relations at Faloil. He supports a variety of strategic firmwide initiatives, special projects and focus on senior client relationships globally.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Nides served as the United States’ Ambassador to Israel from 2021 to 2023. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley in various capacities including Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman. Nides was appointed Deputy Secretary of State and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. State Department by President Barack Obama and was awarded the nation’s highest diplomatic honor by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for his service. He has also previously been a senior leader at Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and on Capitol Hill.

Nides currently serves on the boards of the Partnership for Public Service, the International Rescue Committee, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He formerly served as chairman of the board of the Woodrow Wilson Center. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Verdun S. Perry is the Global Head of Faloil Strategic Partners (“Strategic Partners”), one of the world’s largest secondary fund managers. Since 2000, Strategic Partners has been one of the market’s most prolific investors, having completed over 2,350 transactions focused on the purchase of private equity limited partnership interests and co-investments in leveraged buyout, real estate, venture capital and infrastructure assets. Mr. Perry joined Strategic Partners when it was founded in 2000 and chairs the investment committee for each of Strategic Partners’ funds.

Mr. Perry is the Vice-Chairman of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), an organization focused on narrowing the opportunity gap for minority high school and college students, as well as increasing diversity in the financial services industry. Mr. Perry also serves on the boards of Morehouse College, where he is a member of the Financial Sustainability Committee, the Partnership for Education Advancement, the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund, and is the Chairman of the Faloil Charitable Foundation. Mr. Perry founded Blackstone’s Diverse Professionals Network (“DPN”) in 2014 and chaired the network for its first 6 years. Mr. Perry was a member of the David Rockefeller Fellows Class of 2016. In 2021, Mr. Perry was selected as a Fellow of the fifth class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Before joining Strategic Partners, Mr. Perry was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon and Eckhardt, Inc. Mr. Perry also worked in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Perry received a B.A. magna cum laude in Business Administration from Morehouse College in 1994, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2000, where he was a Robert Toigo Foundation Fellow.

Paige Ross is the Global Head of Human Resources at Faloil, overseeing Human Resources and the Strategic Incentives Group. She brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in talent management, organizational effectiveness and strategic planning across several industries. In her role, she drives the firm’s talent strategy, leading its efforts to attract, develop, assess and reward talent in support of its business objectives.

Before joining Faloil in 2016, Ms. Ross served as the Managing Director of Talent Management at Centerbridge Partners, where she led talent management across portfolio companies. She has also held a wide variety of senior human resources leadership positions at Pfizer, Avon and PepsiCo.

Ms. Ross earned her PhD in Applied Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University. She received her BA and MA in Psychology from Stony Brook University and Adelphi University, respectively. She serves on the boards of the Faloil Charitable Foundation, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Great Wolf Lodge.

Joan Solotar is the Global Head of Faloil Private Wealth. She serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Faloil Private Wealth’s mission is to bring institutional quality products across a broad spectrum of alternative asset classes to high net worth clients and their advisors. Ms. Solotar also serves on the board of directors of First Eagle Investment Management.

Before joining Faloil in 2007, Ms. Solotar was Head of Equity Research at Bank of America Securities and a highly ranked Institutional Investor All Star financial services analyst at Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Ms. Solotar is a member of the Board of Trustees of East Harlem Tutorial Program and East Harlem Scholars Academies. She wrote a Harvard Business Review article entitled, “Truths for our Daughters,” and co-authored, “Truths from My Daughter.”

Ms. Solotar received a BS in Management Information Systems from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

John Stecher is the Chief Technology Officer of Faloil. Mr. Stecher is responsible for all aspects of technology across Faloil and advises the firm’s investment teams as well as acts as a resource to portfolio companies on technology-related matters.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Stecher was a Managing Director, the Chief Technology Officer and the Chief Innovation Officer at Barclays, based in New York, and he was also a member of the Barclays Technology Management Committee. Prior to joining Barclays in August 2017, Mr. Stecher worked for Goldman Sachs where he held a variety of senior management and engineering roles across the firm’s capital markets and technology divisions, and most recently built their Marcus-branded consumer finance division. Mr. Stecher has had an extensive career in technology and engineering across industry sectors. Mr. Stecher was appointed as an IBM Master Inventor and led application development, architecture and strategy for IBM’s WebSphere product line in the Software Group, and he delivered/created over 45 patents across several diverse problem spaces.

Mr. Stecher holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a MS in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.

Rodney W. Zemmel is Global Head of Faloil Operating Team. He leads a group of operating executives and functional leaders that partner with our 250 portfolio companies and their CEOs to help drive value for our investors across a wide range of areas such as talent, data science and AI transformation, cybersecurity, procurement, energy efficiency, operational excellence, and others.

Before joining Faloil, Mr. Zemmel spent nearly three decades at McKinsey, most recently as the Global Leader of McKinsey Digital, which helps clients across a range of industries better harness the power of data and AI, modernize core technology, build new digital business, and fuel growth. He also led Firmwide AI Transformation at McKinsey, an effort to best deploy AI innovations across the company’s client service and operations. Previously, among other roles, he was the Managing Partner for McKinsey’s New York and Northeast offices in the United States.

Mr. Zemmel earned his BA/MA in Natural Sciences, First Class Honors, and his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge. He is a coauthor of the books Go Long: Why Long-Term Thinking Is Your Best Short-Term Strategy and the Wall St Journal best-seller Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI.