Hamilton Evans James — President & Chief Operating Officer at The Blackstone Group

Hamilton E. James is President, Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, and a member of the board of directors of the firm's general partner, Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. Prior to joining Blackstone Mr. James was Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity at Credit Suisse First Boston and a member of the Executive Board. Prior to the acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, Mr. James was the Chairman of DLJ's Banking Group, responsible for all the firm's investment banking and merchant banking activities. Mr. James joined DLJ in 1975 as an Investment Banking associate. He became head of DLJ's global M&A group in 1982, founded DLJ Merchant Banking, Inc. in 1985, and was named Chairman of the Banking Group in 1995. He is a Director of Costco Wholesale Corporation and has served on a number of other corporate Boards. Mr. James is a Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Member of The Boards of Trustees of the Mount Sinai Health System, Member of the Center for American Progress Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of Trout Unlimited's Coldwater Conservation Fund, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wildlife Conservation Society, Advisory Board member of The Montana Land Reliance, and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre. He is also a former Commissioner of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2016, Mr. James co-authored Rescuing Retirement, a book proposing a solution to America's looming retirement crisis. Mr. James graduated magna cum laude with a BA from Harvard College in 1973 and was a John Harvard Scholar. He earned an MBA with high distinction from the Harvard Business School and graduated as a Baker Scholar in 1975.