Featuring:
JONATHAN GRAY
President and COO, Blackstone and
JOSEPH BARATTA (B’93)
Global Head of Private Equity Strategies, Blackstone
April 10, 2025
Georgetown University
Gaston Hall
@GUSteersCenter I #GUSteers
J. CLAY SELL Chief Executive Officer, X-energy
J. Clay Sell has served as chief executive officer of X-energy since January 2019 and has led the company through a period of dramatic transformation and growth in product development investment, U.S. government funding awards, private capital raised, and customer commitments. Mr. Sell has deep professional expertise across many sectors of the international and U.S. energy industry developed through his service in senior level positions in the private sector and government.
From 2008 to 2018, Sell was the president of Hunt Energy Horizons, LLC, the renewable energy subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., a multinational energy, real estate, and investment corporation controlled by the Ray L. Hunt family of Dallas. Previously, he held positions for 14 years in the U.S. government, as deputy secretary of energy in the George W. Bush Administration from 2005-2008, as a special assistant to the President from 2003-2005, and in senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Sell holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Tech University.
Taite McDonald is the co-chair of the Energy Transition Industry Sector Group and leads the clean technology funding and finance team at Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C. office. McDonald specializes in government clean technology funding, including grants, loan guarantees, and complex cross-government projects. Her team has helped secure over $4 billion in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant funding and $9 billion in DOE Loan Program commitments.
McDonald is recognized for her advocacy work and successful representation of companies in obtaining funding, receiving awards including being named a Rising Star by both Holland & Knight (2019) and Law360 (2021), as well as a top lawyer for electric vehicle companies by Business Insider.
President and CEO, Digital Realty
Andy Power is chief executive officer and is a member of the Board of Directors of Digital Realty since 2022. He has also served as Digital Realty’s president since 2021 and as chief financial officer since 2015 with responsibility for global portfolio operations, technology development and innovation, service provider and enterprise customer solutions, asset management and information technology, as well as the company’s financial functions across its global platform.
Prior to joining Digital Realty, Power served as managing director of real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and was responsible for relationships with over 40 public and private companies, including Digital Realty. Previously, Power was employed by Citigroup, where he held similar positions of increasing responsibility within the Real Estate Investment Banking group. During his career, he has managed the execution of over $30 billion of public and private capital raises, including the largest REIT IPO to date, and more than $19 billion of merger and acquisition transactions. Power was part of the lead underwriting team that advised Digital Realty on its initial public offering in 2004 and served as a lead manager on nearly every subsequent public capital raise.
Power also serves on the Board of Directors of Americold Realty Trust. He earned a bachelor’s degree in analytical finance from Wake Forest University.
MATTHEW CYPHER
Atara Kaufman Professor of the Practice, Director: Steers Center for Global Real Estate, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
Matthew L. Cypher was the Director of Underwriting at Invesco Real Estate prior to his position at Georgetown University. He was a member of the firm’s investment committee and investment strategy group. Cypher currently sits on the board of Global Medical REIT and is the chair of the firm’s nominating and governance committee. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Texas A&M University and a B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University.
JONATHAN GRAY
President and COO, Blackstone
Jonathan “Jon” Gray is president and chief operating officer of Blackstone and is a member of the board of directors. He sits on the firm’s management committee and nearly all of its investment committees. Gray was appointed to his current role in 2018. Since that time, Blackstone’s assets under management have more than doubled to over $1.1 trillion, as the firm has greatly expanded the breadth of clients it serves, including insurance companies and individual investors. He has also emphasized a thematic approach to investing across Blackstone’s businesses to drive performance.
Gray previously led Blackstone’s real estate business, which he helped build into the largest commercial real estate platform in the world. He joined Blackstone in 1992 in the M&A and private equity areas. Gray has served as chairman of the board of directors of Hilton Worldwide since 2007, and is also on the board of XRG.
Gray earned a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School, as well as a B.A. in English from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
JOSEPH BARATTA (B’93)
Global Head of Private Equity Strategies, Blackstone
Joseph Baratta is the global head of private equity strategies and a member of Blackstone’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of their management committee and serves on many of the firm’s investment committees. Baratta joined Blackstone in 1998, and in 2001, he moved to London to help establish Blackstone’s corporate private equity business in Europe. Since 2012, Baratta has served as the firm’s global head of private equity and is located in New York City. Baratta has served on the boards of many past Blackstone portfolio companies. Currently, he serves as a member or observer on the boards of Ancestry, Candle Media, First Eagle Investment Management, Medline, and Merlin Entertainments Group. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown University, is a trustee of the Tate Foundation, and serves on the board of Year Up, an organization focused on youth employment.
Before joining Blackstone, Baratta was with Tinicum Incorporated and McCown De Leeuw & Company. Baratta also worked at Morgan Stanley in its mergers and acquisitions department. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.
MODERATOR: ROBERT STEERS (B’75, P’06, ’08, ’10)
Executive Chairman, Cohen & Steers
From 1984 to 1986, Robert Steers was a senior vice president and chief investment officer of National Securities and Research Corporation. In 1986, he co-founded Cohen & Steers, Inc. where he currently serves as CEO. Steers is a member of the advisory committee of the staff retirement plan of the International Monetary Fund as well as the Chairman of the Investment Committee at Georgetown University’s endowment. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from The George Washington University.
The Master of Science in Global Real Assets program at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business combines real estate, infrastructure, and energy transition and policy with hands-on experience. Students work on live underwriting deals and benefit from a partnership with Jackson Lucas – a leading real estate recruitment firm – connecting them to top career opportunities. The program also includes a global experience trip, offering exposure to international markets and preparing graduates for leadership roles in the global real assets sector.
Learn more about the MS-GRA program on our website
