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Jonathan Gray

General Partner, President, Chief Operating Officer & Director, Blackstone

Search every verified Jonathan Gray interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Jonathan Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, made multiple public appearances in India in October 2026, including interviews with CNBC-TV18, Bloomberg Television, and The Economic Times. He stated that Blackstone aims to double its India investments from $50 billion to $100 billion over the next five years, citing India's GDP growth of over 7 percent, low GDP per capita, and improvements in physical infrastructure, capital markets, and dispute resolution. Gray said foreign investors will "rediscover India" as they seek growth, and described India as "in a league of its own" among large economies. He also noted Blackstone has completed 14 IPOs in India and sponsored five of six public REITs. Gray discussed Blackstone's focus on AI infrastructure, including data centers and neoclouds, and expressed confidence in the long-term demand for compute, while acknowledging risks of capital flowing toward innovation. He argued that India's IT services companies could benefit from AI by becoming "AI deployment companies," and said the market may be too negative on the sector. Gray also commented on leadership and private markets, describing the tradeoff of liquidity for diversification and returns, and emphasized the importance of challenging convictions and maintaining high operational standards. He praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, particularly its message about using power to empower.

Recent appearances

  • 'Foreign Investors Will Rediscover India' | Blackstone Pres Gray On Market Volatility, AI & Growth

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 CNBC-TV18

    “I’m not sure Indians recognise how powerful and valuable their capital markets are. They’ve become an incredible asset to the country.” Jonathan Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group, tells CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan India’s IPO market and deep liquidity are a strong sign for long-term growth and capital formation. He notes Blackstone has done 14 IPOs in India and sponsored five of the six public REITs. Gray says markets can be fickle, with multiples resetting on worries over valuations, energy and AI disruption to IT, but India is growing at more than 7% and third…

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  • 'India Is In A League Of Its Own' | Blackstone COO Jon Gray Reveals Top Investment Sectors In India

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 CNBC-TV18

    “Compared with other large economies, India is in a league of its own in terms of growth.” Speaking to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan, Jonathan Gray, President & COO of Blackstone says India’s low GDP per capita and ~8% quarterly growth create openings in data centres, energy, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and AI-led IT services. Despite headwinds such as higher energy prices from the war and AI-related worries over IT services, he says investors in India have to be builders, not just buyers. Gray points to data centres, neoclouds, compute capacity and energy as the starting poin…

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  • Blackstone's Jon Gray on Why Investors See India as a Core Portfolio Bet, Not a Fringe Market | N18V

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 CNBC-TV18

    "Investors are looking at India as a core part of their portfolios, not as a fringe emerging market," says Blackstone President Jon Gray, who remains bullish on the country in a conversation with Shereen Bhan. Gray says he is not sure Indians fully recognise just how powerful and valuable their capital markets are. He remains optimistic that foreign investors will rediscover India as they look for growth opportunities around the world. #globaldialogues #blackstone #indiaopportunity #indiabets #indiainvestments #indiagrowthstory #blackstoneinvestments #cnbctv18 #cnbctv18market #businessnews…

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  • Why Blackstone Wants to Double Its India Bet to $100 Billion | Jonathan Gray | ET Conversations

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 ET Digital

    Why is Blackstone doubling down on India when foreign investors are pulling back? Jonathan Gray, Blackstone’s President and COO, tells ET's executive editor Sruthijith KK why market pessimism creates opportunity and outlines an ambition to grow the firm’s India investments from $50 billion to $100 billion in five years. From data centres and energy to healthcare, housing and financial services, Gray maps the opportunities he sees ahead. He also tackles concerns about the AI infrastructure boom, explains why India’s IT services companies could benefit from AI, and responds to fears around priva…

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  • Our Goal Over Next Five Years Is To Double From $50 Billion To $100 Billion: Blackstone’s Jon Gray

    October 14, 2026 · 📺 CNBC-TV18

    “We’ve said that we have about $50 billion in real estate and companies here. Our goal over the next five years is to double that to $100 billion.” Jonathan Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group, says the firm will take a long-term approach to India, with logistics, hotels, shopping centres and a range of companies in focus. While speaking to CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan he also stated that the opportunity set will grow as long as the economy keeps growing and the government offers foreign investors certainty and clarity in its policies. Gray also says Blackstone like…

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  • In Full: Blackstone's Gray on India's Modi, AI Buildout

    October 13, 2026 · 📺 Bloomberg Television

    Blackstone President Jonathan Gray discusses the firm's investments in India, his views on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and why he's confident about the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout. "We think focusing on the AI infrastructure here in India and around the world is the right place to be," Gray says in an interview with Yvonne Man on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi. -------- More on Bloomberg Television and Markets Like this video? Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any videos from Bloomberg Markets & Finance: https://tiny…

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  • Global Leaders on the End of Predictability

    October 12, 2026 · 📺 Bloomberg New Economy

    Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons; Jonathan Gray, President & Chief Operating Officer, Blackstone; and The Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak, Former Prime Minister & Member of Parliament, United Kingdom discuss leadership strategies amid global economic uncertainty, fragmentation and disruption with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker at the 2026 Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi. -------- Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg New Economy on YouTube:    / @bloombergneweconomy   Read the latest from Bloomberg New Economy here: https://www.bloomberg.com/new-economy Connect with us on…

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  • Blackstone President Jonathan Gray On India's Investment Boom & Global Risks | BNEF 2026

    October 12, 2026 · 📺 Business Today

    Is India becoming one of the world's most attractive investment destinations? Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Gray shares his perspective on India's improving investment climate and the biggest risks facing the global economy at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 in New Delhi. Speaking during the session "The End of Predictability," Gray highlights India's progress in infrastructure development, dispute resolution and openness to foreign investment, which are strengthening the country's growth prospects. He also warns that artificial intelligence, technological disr…

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  • Leadership, Building Enduring Businesses & Private Markets

    September 09, 2026 · 📺 Marsh

    Listen to episode 3 of The CEO Perspectives: Conversation with Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone Across today's investment landscape, we believe enduring success continually comes down to whether you have a strong culture, disciplined decision-making, and the ability to adapt to change whilst maintaining a long-term perspective. In the first episode of CEO Perspectives under the new Marsh brand, Mick Dempsey, President of Investments and Retirement, speaks with Jon Gray, President & COO of Blackstone, about the leadership principles that have shaped one of the world's largest altern…

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  • Blackstone's Jon Gray on Big Bets, AI, & Staying Skeptical | The CEO Signal

    August 27, 2026 · 📺 Semafor and Blackstone

    Jon Gray, chief operating officer of the $1.3 trillion asset manager Blackstone, says one of the firm’s distinguishing habits is to “go big” when it finds a theme it believes in. But he also says successful convictions need to be challenged, particularly as Blackstone invests heavily around artificial intelligence. “You keep pressing against what you’re doing to confirm that you haven’t just sort of fallen in love,” he says. In this episode of The CEO Signal, Gray describes investing as “pattern recognition”: finding “good neighborhoods,” and connecting the dots before others do. Hosted by Pe…

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  • Leaning Into AI Is Paying Off, Blackstone's Gray Says

    July 23, 2026 · 📺 Bloomberg Television

    Blackstone Inc. reported a 26% jump in distributable earnings for the second quarter, buoyed by artificial intelligence-related investments. Blackstone President & COO Jon Gray says the "strategic decision to lean into AI, its infrastructure and compute shortage" is making a big difference for investors. He speaks with Bloomberg's Dani Burger on Bloomberg Open Interest. -------- More on Bloomberg Television and Markets Like this video? Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss any videos from Bloomberg Markets & Finance: https://tinyurl.com/ysu5b8a9 Visit http://www.bloomber…

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  • Blackstone's Jon Gray on Building a $1.3 Trillion Wall Street Giant

    May 10, 2026 · 📺 Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals

    What does it take to lead through a near-disaster and turn it into a $14 billion win? In this episode, Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray shares lessons from the financial crisis, revealing why staying calm, backing the right businesses and building trust can make or break a leader. He also opens up about shaping culture, retaining top talent and leading with humanity—offering a rare inside look at how one of the world’s biggest investment firms navigates uncertainty. Check out more interviews: http://bloomberg.com/leaderswithlacqua Read more on management and work:…

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“Well, I would say we've got some crossurrens. The biggest challenge, of course, is this rising cost of capital, right? We've seen rates go up in the US in the third quarter. The 10-year went up by 80 basis points. We've seen even sharper increases in a place like France. And what's happening is a few things. um won the war uh and basically two wars, Russia, Ukraine as well, driving energy prices higher, impacting agr”

“Well, I think India has spent the last 20 years putting in place the foundations for growth. If you think about uh the physical infrastructure, the airports, the flyovers so that you can transit within cities much faster. um changing the legal constructs, things like there used to be the GST taxes between the different uh states. If you think about the capital markets growth, the Indian stock market has now grown to ”

“Well, we've talked about round numbers being easier. So, I think we said in five years, we'd love that number to be a hundred billion dollars. Now, we've got to find great businesses.”

“Whenever you have a large innovation and then capital flowing towards it, there's a risk that things go out of kilter. That risk does exist. But I think to date this is much healthier than what you read in the newspaper on a daily basis. And I say that for a couple reasons. First off, the demand is just continuing to grow. And I would say at our companies, their returns on investment seem pretty remarkable. They're f”

“Well, I think will continue to be very long electricity, because everything we're talking about around technology, the data centers, the autonomous vehicles, the robots, all of it's going to use electricity. So this AI is going to move from the desktop to the physical world that will demand more electricity. Obviously the digital infrastructure hugely important. I think unfortunately, based on the discussion, Chair R”

“I think there's a very important difference. I mean, I think all of these countries face this challenge, but the growth rates in the U.S. are much higher. And when you look at the technology, the investment, what's happening with AI, you're seeing it lead to a lot of capital flows in. And that higher rate of growth gives you a little more room. Now, ultimately, the US is going to have to face tough choices. But I thi”

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