Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain
Officers.
On May 19, 2021, Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (the "Company" or "BXMT")
announced that the Company's board of directors has appointed Katharine A.
Keenan, the Company's President, to serve as the Company's Chief Executive
Officer and elected her as a director, in each case, effective as of June 30,
2021. Ms. Keenan will continue to serve as the Company's President.
Ms. Keenan, 36, has served as the Company's President since February 2020. She
joined the Company's management team in January 2018 and served as the Company's
Executive Vice President, Investments from January 2019 until February 2020.
Ms. Keenan is also a senior managing director of the Real Estate Debt Strategies
group ("BREDS") at The Blackstone Group Inc. ("Blackstone"). As President of
BXMT, Ms. Keenan focuses on the Company's investments, operations and strategy.
She also originates loans and other investments for BXMT as well as for other
investment vehicles managed by BREDS. Before joining Blackstone in 2012,
Ms. Keenan held positions at G2 Investment Group, Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds
and in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Lehman Brothers. Ms. Keenan
graduated cum laude with an A.B. in History from Harvard College. She sits on
the advisory board of NYPEN Real Estate, is a member of WX New York Women
Executives in Real Estate, and sits on the board of directors of Getting Out and
Staying Out.
Ms. Keenan's appointment coincides with the resignation, effective June 30,
2021, of Stephen D. Plavin as Chief Executive Officer and a director of the
Company. Mr. Plavin remains a senior managing director and key member of the
BREDS leadership team and will oversee BREDS' European platform.
The selection of Ms. Keenan to serve as the Company's Chief Executive Officer
and director was not pursuant to any arrangement or understanding with any other
person. There are no family relationships between Ms. Keenan and any director or
executive officer of the Company and there are no transactions between
Ms. Keenan and the Company that would be required to be reported under Item
404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.
On May 19, 2021, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment
of Ms. Keenan to serve as the Company's Chief Executive Officer and her election
as a director. The press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current
Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit
No. Description
99.1 Press Release of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. dated May 19, 2021.
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL
document).
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