{"id":505334,"date":"2026-03-31T14:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/505334\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:48:08","slug":"blackstone-bets-on-golfer-tommy-fleetwood-to-win-over-the-worlds-wealthiest-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/505334\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackstone bets on golfer Tommy Fleetwood to win over the world’s wealthiest investors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWorld class.\u201d \u201cConsistent.\u201d \u201cFocused relentlessly on performance.\u201d Blackstone<\/a> President and COO Jon Gray is speaking from his New York office, and you could be forgiven for thinking he\u2019s referring to the strategy that has helped turn his firm into the world\u2019s largest alternative investment manager, now boasting $1.3 trillion in AUM (assets under management).<\/p>\n

But actually, he\u2019s talking about golf. Or rather, a golfer\u2014the one Blackstone just hired to be its first ever brand ambassador. And in choosing Tommy Fleetwood, the 4th highest-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour, Blackstone did set out to find someone that embodied the firm\u2019s ethos. \u201cHe\u2019s such a compelling figure, he\u2019s a self effacing, good high-integrity human being who also happens to be outstanding at what he does,\u201d effuses Gray, who calls Fleetwood \u201cworld class, both as a professional and as a human being.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but they will involve Fleetwood wearing Blackstone\u2019s logo in the coveted \u201cfront of hat\u201d position when he plays in tournaments around the world, and perhaps a little mixing and mingling with Blackstone clients at events designed to reach clients in a more relaxed setting than a conference room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fleetwood is the British golfer who is known as one of the most likable players on tour. He previously held the uncomfortable record of having the most top five finishes on the PGA Tour without a win\u2014an excruciating 30. But last year when he finally broke the streak and won the Tour Championship in August, it was a moment that showcased grit and glory, transcending sports. The New York Times dubbed 2025 \u201cthe year of Tommy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gray says the pairing came about via Blackstone partner Joe Baratta, who runs the firm\u2019s private equity business, and had a preexisting relationship with Fleetwood. \u201cHe came to us and said, \u2018Hey, look, [Tommy\u2019s] got a contract that\u2019s coming up with Nike<\/a> and he\u2019s thinking about potentially making some changes. Would we have an interest?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Underpinning the deal, of course, is Blackstone\u2019s quest to raise its profile in the highly lucrative\u2014and increasingly competitive\u2014private wealth business. Gray says the business is about $300 billion, or roughly one-fourth of the firm\u2019s total AUM. Blackstone primarily provides retail investors with access to alternative investments such as real estate or private credit, in which they give up instant liquidity in exchange for higher returns. That makes Blackstone\u2019s client base mostly financial advisors who recommend those asset classes to their clients, as well as family offices and high-net-worth individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gray points out that Blackstone\u2019s institutional investors like pension funds tend to have about one-third of their assets in private vehicles. But if you look at individuals\u2014even very affluent individuals\u2014they\u2019re only about 1%-2% allocated to private assets, \u201cand yet their time horizons look very similar,\u201d he notes. <\/p>\n

Is Gray worried about the current souring mood towards private credit<\/a>, which has weighed on Blackstone\u2019s stock this year? He acknowledges the noise<\/a>, and admits that the for the economy overall, \u201cthe picture in the near term looks cloudy.\u201d But he says his investors want returns over years and decades, not days. \u201cIt\u2019s not what\u2019s going to happen next week, it\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen in five, 10, 20 or 30 years,\u201d that matters he says.<\/p>\n

The ability to absorb stress and transcend losses are also themes that are all too familiar to golfers. So is Gray considering picking up a set of clubs now that Fleetwood will be repping the firm? The answer: Not yet. \u201cI\u2019m a Type-A person, so if I do something, I want to be really, really good at it,\u201d he says. With a punishing travel schedule, taking it up anytime soon isn\u2019t the cards. \u201cFor right now, I\u2019m focused on work and family, and I love that Tommy is focused on golf.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWorld class.\u201d \u201cConsistent.\u201d \u201cFocused relentlessly on performance.\u201d Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray is speaking from his New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[13854,4176,5904,5027,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-505334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-blackstone","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-leadership","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}