Hamilton “Tony” James will join us in conversation with DMA member John Craft to discuss the Federal Reserve’s policies on interest rates and inflation, the current banking crisis, the outlook for private equity and venture capital investing, the real estate markets, prospects for future investments in China, and the effects of COVID, the war in Ukraine and the emerging Cold War with China on the U.S. economy, international trade, supply chains, and global investments.
Tony is an internationally recognized investor and leader in global finance, having served for many years as president and chief operating officer of The Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager with approximately $1 trillion in assets under management. In that role, he oversaw businesses and operations in all major countries throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Tony currently is chairman of Jefferson River Capital, a private investment group. He also serves as the chairman of the board of Costco Wholesale Corp., the world’s second largest retailer, co-chair of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, vice chairman of The Wildlife Conservation Society, chairman of the finance committee of Mount Sinai Hospital System, and chairman and co-founder of The Partnership for Education Advancement, which provides critical infrastructure support to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, serving over 40% of all HBCU students. He was also appointed by President Joe Biden to be a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
Tony has also served and continues to serve on numerous other charitable, corporate, and public sector boards. He co-authored Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans, a book proposing a solution to America’s looming retirement crisis, and has published articles in The Wall Street Journal and other major publications. Tony graduated from Harvard College Magna Cum Laude as a John Harvard Scholar and from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar.
John Craft graduated from Princeton University and the Wharton School (MBA). He spent 20 years in the institutional fixed income business with Bankers Trust and Merrill Lynch, and subsequently co-founded a technology start-up that developed internet-based applications for the bond market.