Starwood Capital Group Appoints Jonathan Pollack as President

MIAMI, Feb. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Starwood Capital Group ("Starwood Capital"), a global private investment firm with a primary focus on real estate, today announced that Jonathan Pollack will join the firm beginning in 2025 as its President, adding proven industry and investment expertise to Starwood Capital's executive leadership team as the firm prepares for its next chapter of growth.  

Mr. Pollack joins Starwood Capital from Blackstone, where he served as Global Head of the firm's Real Estate Credit business (BREDS) since 2016. BREDS, which has $84 billion in assets under management, is a leading global lender and investor in commercial real estate loans, residential mortgages and a range of securities, including CMBS, RMBS and real estate corporate debt. In December 2023, BREDS acquired the $17B portfolio of Signature Bank commercial mortgages auctioned by the FDIC.

Mr. Pollack was also a member of Blackstone's Real Estate Executive Committee and Investment Committee, as well as Blackstone's Operating Committee.

"After an extensive search, I am extremely pleased to welcome an executive of Jonathan's caliber as President of Starwood Capital," said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital. "I have known Jonathan for more than a decade, and he is universally respected across our industry with unparalleled relationships and a track record of success, which will help lead a firm of our scale and ambition. Jonathan's background is global, and he will join all of Starwood's committees, including its Executive, Investment, Disposition and Operating Committees, which he is expected to lead. He is a proven manager, and shares my vision that talent thrives in a fun and rewarding workplace. We will continue to strive to make Starwood the best place to work in the industry, and I could not be more excited to start this next leg of our journey with him as part of our already accomplished leadership team." 

Prior to joining Blackstone in 2015, Mr. Pollack was the global head of Commercial Real Estate at Deutsche Bank, and established DB as the top CMBS issuer and a leading special situations investor following the global financial crisis in 2008. Mr. Pollack also spent eight years in Deutsche Bank's London headquarters, helping to build the European CRE business as the head of Capital Markets. Mr. Pollack graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Economics. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of East Harlem Tutorial Program, a leading charter school and after school program in New York City.

Jeffrey G. Dishner, President and Chief Operating Officer of Starwood Capital, will remain in his role as President until Mr. Pollack joins the firm, at which time he will assume the role of Vice Chairman and Head of Strategy and Business Development.

Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate. The Firm and its affiliates maintain 16 offices in seven countries around the world, and currently have approximately 4,500 employees. Since its inception in 1991, Starwood Capital Group has raised over $70 billion of capital, and currently has approximately $115 billion of assets under management. Through a series of comingled opportunity funds and Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (SREIT), a non-listed REIT, the Firm has invested in virtually every category of real estate on a global basis, opportunistically shifting asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as it perceives risk/reward dynamics to be evolving. Starwood Capital also manages Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), the largest commercial mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States, which has successfully deployed over $91 billion of capital since inception and manages a portfolio of $27 billion across debt and equity investments. Over the past 31 years, Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that involves building enterprises in both the private and public markets. Additional information can be found at starwoodcapital.com.

Tom Johnson: tom.johnson@h-advisors.global, (212) 371-5999

Dan Scorpio, dan.scorpio@h-advisors.global, (646) 899-8118

SOURCE Starwood Capital Group