Leon Volchyok
About Leon Volchyok
Leon Volchyok, 41, serves as Chief Legal Officer (since September 2017) and Secretary (since June 2016) of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT) . He is also General Counsel for Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions, playing a key role in structuring, launching, and operating investor-focused vehicles . BREIT reports long-term performance of a 9.2% annualized net return on Class I shares since inception, materially outperforming the public REIT index on a cumulative basis, providing context for enterprise value creation under his tenure as an executive officer . Education: BBA, Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business; JD, Fordham Law School .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) | Chief Legal Officer | Since Sep 2017 | Lead legal governance, disclosure, governance processes, and regulatory compliance for a large-scale, externally managed, perpetual-life REIT . |
| Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) | Secretary | Since Jun 2016 | Corporate secretary duties supporting board processes, filings, and governance execution . |
| Blackstone Private Wealth Solutions | General Counsel | Not disclosed | Structuring, launch and operations of individual investor-focused vehicles across Blackstone’s platform . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Portfolio Alternatives | Board Member | Not disclosed | Industry standards and advocacy for retail alternatives; governance exposure . |
| NAREIT Public Non-Listed REIT Council | Executive Committee Member | Not disclosed | Policy and industry coordination for PNLRs; regulatory and best-practice engagement . |
Fixed Compensation
BREIT is externally managed; executive officers, including the Chief Legal Officer, are compensated by Blackstone (the Adviser), not BREIT. BREIT does not directly pay salaries, bonuses, benefits, severance, or perquisites to its executive officers and does not reimburse the Adviser for such compensation .
| Component | Company-Paid to Volchyok | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | Not paid by BREIT | Compensation is paid by Blackstone; BREIT provides no executive payroll . |
| Target/Actual Bonus | Not paid by BREIT | No BREIT executive cash bonus program . |
| Pension/SERP/Deferred Comp | None at BREIT | No pension/SERP or nonqualified deferred comp provided by BREIT . |
| Perquisites | None at BREIT | No perqs disclosed for executive officers . |
Performance Compensation
BREIT does not grant equity awards (RSUs/PSUs/options) to executive officers and has no executive equity compensation plan; policy disclosures indicate no stock options or equity awards for BREIT executives, and equity compensation plans for executives are not authorized .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive equity awards (RSU/PSU/Options) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A — BREIT does not grant executive equity . |
Supporting policies:
- BREIT “currently does not grant stock options” and has no timing policies for options; no CD&A is applicable because executives are not paid by BREIT .
- Compensation Committee oversees non-employee director compensation; executive compensation is not paid directly by BREIT .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual executive beneficial ownership for Volchyok is not disclosed in the Security Ownership table; it lists specific directors and certain named executive officers but does not provide a line for Volchyok .
- As of March 28, 2025, Blackstone owned ~$3.4B of BREIT shares and OP units; Blackstone employees, including BREIT executive officers, owned an aggregate ~$1.3B of BREIT shares and OP units, indicating broad employee alignment though individual executive breakdowns are not provided .
- Hedging policy: BREIT currently does not have a hedging policy for officers, employees and directors; waivers would be disclosed via website .
- Insider trading policy: Blackstone pre-clearance required for covered persons to trade BREIT securities; policy filed with the 10-K .
- Pledging of company stock: Not disclosed.
- Director stock ownership guidelines (not applicable to executives): Non-employee directors must hold 5x annual cash retainer within five years; all are in compliance .
| Item | Volchyok | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total beneficial ownership | Not disclosed | Aggregate employee ownership disclosed but no specific Volchyok line . |
| Shares pledged | Not disclosed | No pledging disclosure specific to executives . |
| Hedging policy | No hedging policy in place | Governance oversight with waiver disclosure via website . |
| Insider pre-clearance | Required via Blackstone Legal & Compliance | Trading subject to pre-clearance for covered persons . |
Employment Terms
- Employment contracts: BREIT does not have employment agreements with executive officers; executives are employees of Blackstone and are not required to dedicate a specific amount of time to BREIT .
- Severance/change-of-control: BREIT does not provide severance or change-of-control payments to executive officers; no arrangements to make payments upon termination or change in control .
- Clawbacks/tax gross-ups: Not disclosed for BREIT executives; no BREIT executive comp .
- Indemnification: BREIT has indemnification agreements with each officer and director, providing advancement/indemnification subject to limitations under Maryland law .
- Term of Advisory Agreement (context for executive governance): Advisory Agreement renewed March 6, 2025; one-year term expiring March 31, 2026; termination rights defined, including for cause and without cause with notice .
| Term | Provision | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employment agreement | None at BREIT for executives | Executives are compensated by Blackstone . |
| Severance / CoC | None; no arrangements to pay upon termination/CoC | Explicitly stated in proxy . |
| Time dedication | No specific time required under Advisory Agreement | Externally managed; Adviser allocates time . |
| Indemnification | Officer indemnification agreements in place | Subject to Maryland law limitations . |
Performance & Track Record
- BREIT performance: 9.2% annualized net return on Class I since inception; cumulative outperformance vs. public REIT index by >60% per press release (context for platform execution quality) .
- Corporate events under Volchyok’s signature: He signed multiple 8-Ks and leadership appointment filings, evidencing ongoing role in governance and disclosure (e.g., Item 5.02 leadership transitions on Aug 7, 2025 and Sept 19, 2025) .
| Performance Indicator | Data | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Class I annualized net return since inception | 9.2% | Outperformed public REIT index cumulatively by >60% . |
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- No executive compensation at BREIT and no employment agreements may create opaque pay-for-performance linkage at the BREIT level (compensation determined by Blackstone, not disclosed in BREIT filings) .
- Absence of a hedging policy could permit hedging activity by officers absent case-by-case waivers; however, insider trading policy requires pre-clearance from Blackstone Legal & Compliance .
- External management model: Executives are not required to dedicate a specific amount of time to BREIT, potentially contributing to execution-risk if competing responsibilities arise .
Compensation Committee & Governance Context
- Compensation Committee oversees director pay and, to the extent applicable, executive pay if BREIT were to award compensation; BREIT currently pays no executive compensation and does not directly compensate its executives .
- Non-employee director compensation: Annual $90,000 cash + $200,000 restricted stock; committee chair retainers; grants vest in one year .
- Meetings and board oversight: In 2024, board and committees met regularly with attendance ≥75% and frequent executive sessions; relevant for governance quality .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Volchyok’s legal governance role supports BREIT’s externally managed structure; individual executive pay is at Blackstone and not disclosed by BREIT, limiting direct pay-for-performance visibility at the company level .
- Low insider selling pressure from company awards: BREIT does not grant executive equity or options, so there are no vesting-driven sell windows for BREIT-awarded stock or options .
- Retention/contractual risk: No BREIT employment agreements, no severance or CoC protection, and no required time dedication under the Advisory Agreement; retention and focus are functions of Blackstone’s internal incentives and policies rather than BREIT contracts .
- Trading governance: Insider trading pre-clearance and absence of a hedging policy present mixed signals—controls exist via pre-clearance while hedging is not categorically prohibited .
- Overall: For trading signals, monitor SEC Forms 3/4/5 for Volchyok and aggregate Blackstone employee holdings given large insider alignment at the group level (~$1.3B aggregate employee ownership), while recognizing individual executive-level holdings are not disclosed by BREIT .