Marcin Urbaszek
About Marcin Urbaszek
Marcin Urbaszek is Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT), appointed January 2, 2025; age 48. He is a Managing Director in Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) and previously served as CFO, Treasurer, and Head of Investor Relations at Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE: GPMT) since its inception in 2017; he holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Baruch College (CUNY) and is a CFA charterholder . BXMT’s disclosed performance metrics tracked for executive compensation context include Company TSR, net income, and Distributable Earnings; over 2021–2024, Company TSR moved from 99 to 78 (base $100), with net income shifting from $419.2mm to $(204.1)mm and Distributable Earnings from $396.7mm to $5.5mm, reflecting the capital cycle and credit environment .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE: GPMT) | CFO, Treasurer, Head of Investor Relations | 2017–2024 | Senior finance leadership from company inception; led capital markets, investor relations, and financial reporting for a mortgage REIT platform . |
| Blackstone/BREDS | Managing Director | 2024–present | Senior role within BREDS supporting BXMT finance; 20+ years corporate finance and advisory experience, 15+ years in financial institutions . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) | Managing Director | 2024–present | Contributes to BREDS finance leadership alongside BXMT responsibilities . |
Fixed Compensation
- BXMT is externally managed; executive officers and senior management do not receive cash compensation from BXMT. Base salaries, bonuses, and benefits are paid by affiliates of the Manager (Blackstone), and BXMT does not have employment agreements, pensions, or severance arrangements with its officers .
- BXMT may grant equity awards under its Stock Incentive Plan to executive officers and, annually, a grant is allocated by the CEO to employees of affiliates performing services to BXMT (creating alignment), but cash pay remains at the Manager level .
Performance Compensation
- BXMT’s compensation committee considers Company TSR, net income, and Distributable Earnings among measures when determining equity awards for executives; weighting and targets are not disclosed, and the committee does not use the SEC-defined “compensation actually paid” construct to link pay to performance .
- Restricted share vesting terms under BXMT’s Stock Plan: one-sixth vests on the date that is six months and one day after grant; the remainder vests in equal quarterly installments over ten quarters thereafter .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company TSR | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See table below | Equity grants sized judgmentally | RS awards vest 1/6 at 6 months+1 day; balance quarterly over 10 quarters . |
| Net Income | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See table below | Equity grants sized judgmentally | Same as above . |
| Distributable Earnings | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | See table below | Equity grants sized judgmentally | Same as above . |
Retirement vesting policy: case-by-case, may allow up to 50% of unvested awards to continue vesting per original schedule if retirement criteria met (age/service thresholds), excluding terminations for cause/death/disability .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership: Following a Form 4 sale on September 17, 2025, Urbaszek directly owns 11,691 BXMT Class A shares . BXMT had 171,579,492 shares outstanding as of April 14, 2025; Urbaszek’s direct ownership is approximately 0.0068% of shares outstanding .
- Insider transaction and expected selling pressure: A small, pre-planned disposition of 398 shares was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted March 6, 2025 to satisfy tax withholding on vesting of restricted stock; post-transaction holdings were 11,691 shares .
- Hedging and pledging: BXMT prohibits short sales, day trading/arbitrage, buying on margin, and hedging via forwards, swaps, collars, exchange funds, and other derivatives for directors, officers, Manager personnel, and Blackstone employees . No pledging by Urbaszek was disclosed .
- Stock ownership guidelines: BXMT maintains guidelines for non-employee directors (5x cash retainer within five years), but no executive-specific ownership guidelines are disclosed; all non-employee directors are in compliance .
Insider Transactions
| Date | Type | Shares | Price | Proceeds | Post-Holdings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-17 | Sale (Rule 10b5-1) | 398 | $19.50 | $7,761 | 11,691 | Executed under 10b5-1 plan adopted 2025-03-06 to cover tax withholding on vested RS awards . |
Employment Terms
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start date | Elected Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer on January 2, 2025 . |
| Arrangement | Selection not pursuant to any arrangement/understanding with any other person; no family relationships; no related-party transactions reportable under Item 404(a) . |
| Employment agreements | BXMT reports no employment agreements, pensions, severance, or change-of-control payouts for executive officers; compensation is paid by the Manager (Blackstone) . |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed. |
| Clawbacks | Not disclosed. |
| Equity plan terms | RS awards vest per BXMT Stock Plan schedule; retirement vesting policy may allow continued vesting of up to 50% of unvested awards upon qualifying retirement . |
| Trading policy | Strict prohibitions on hedging, short sales, margin transactions; policy filed as Exhibit 19.1 to 2024 Form 10-K . |
Company Performance Context (for compensation alignment)
| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company TSR (Base $100) | 99 | 75 | 85 | 78 |
| Net Income ($mm) | 419.2 | 248.6 | 246.6 | (204.1) |
| Distributable Earnings ($mm) | 396.7 | 489.8 | 526.3 | 5.5 |
Additional governance and pay context:
- Say-on-pay approval was ~95% at the 2024 annual meeting; the compensation committee considered this feedback in 2024 award sizing .
- Compensation committee is fully independent, chaired by Henry Nassau; engaged FPL Associates in 2024 to advise on equity award pool sizing .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: As BXMT is externally managed, cash compensation is paid by Blackstone; alignment at BXMT is primarily via restricted stock grants, with strict anti-hedging/margin policies. For Urbaszek, confirmed equity ownership and the use of a 10b5-1 plan for tax-withholding sales suggest routine, low-risk selling pressure rather than discretionary divestment .
- Vesting-related supply: BXMT awards generally vest one-sixth at six months and then quarterly for ten quarters; monitor Form 4 filings around expected vest dates to gauge incremental selling tied to tax obligations rather than sentiment-driven sales .
- Retention/contract risk: No BXMT employment agreement, severance, or change-of-control economics disclosed for Urbaszek; retention is likely governed by Blackstone’s compensation and career path, with BXMT equity awards providing incremental alignment. The Management Agreement auto-renews annually after December 19, 2025, a structural consideration for broader management incentives rather than individual severance economics .
- Performance sensitivity: BXMT’s recent net income volatility and compressing Distributable Earnings in 2024 vs prior years frame the equity award context for senior officers; tracking improvements in DE and credit outcomes will be more informative for future equity grant sizing than one-off Form 4 activity .