Meet Blackstone’s New Leader of Infrastructure

Stephen Bolze, Blackstone

Stephen Bolze, former president & CEO of General Electric Power, will join Blackstone in October, undertaking the role of senior managing director & head of portfolio operations and asset management for the company’s newly launched infrastructure business.

The new position will have Bolze partnering with portfolio company CEOs to drive value creation initiatives throughout infrastructure companies. He will report to Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Blackstone’s Infrastructure business, Sean Klimczak.

In May, Blackstone announced the launch of its new investment vehicle dedicated to infrastructure with a $20 billion commitment by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The company anticipates the program will have $40 billion in total equity commitments in a permanent capital vehicle, including $20 billion to be raised from other investors. Blackstone expects to invest in more than $100 billion of infrastructure projects, mostly in the U.S.

GE veteran

At GE, Bolze led a number of the company’s largest businesses, operating in over 140 countries with 52,000 employees.  In his most recent role with GE Power and its prior businesses, he oversaw extensive infrastructure investments globally and helped grow overall revenues 70 percent from $16.5 billion to $28 billion over a 10-year period. Bolze also oversaw major acquisitions, including the $14 billion acquisition of Alstom Power & Grid – the largest industrial acquisition in GE history.  Prior to GE Power, he held senior roles with GE Healthcare, GE Energy and GE Corporate.

“Over his long and successful career at GE, Steve has proven himself to be a world-class operator in the infrastructure sector, having overseen remarkable revenue and profit growth across business cycles and building broad global relationships across industries,” said Klimczak, in prepared remarks. “He will help us continue Blackstone’s 30-year track record of investing in some of the world’s leading companies and driving transformational change to produce successful outcomes for local communities and our investors.”

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