Hamilton James & family

Early Life and Education

Hamilton Evans James was born on February 3, 1951, in Wyandotte, Michigan. He attended the Choate School and later graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1973, where he was a John Harvard Scholar. He furthered his education at Harvard Business School, earning an MBA in 1975 as a Baker Scholar.

Rise to Success

James began his career in investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) in 1975. He advanced to head DLJ's global mergers and acquisitions group in 1982. In 1985, he founded DLJ Merchant Banking, Inc. After DLJ was acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, James became chairman of the firm's banking group. In 2002, James joined Blackstone Inc. as President and COO. Under his leadership, Blackstone grew to an investment giant with $731 billion in assets.

Key Business Strategies

At Blackstone, James organized the initial public offering that took the company public. He also managed the acquisition of GSO (credit business) and Strategic Partners (secondaries arm). He helped establish Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities section. From August 2017, he became the chairman of Costco, a multinational retail chain. These strategies played a key role in his rise to the top.

Philanthropy

James has been involved in philanthropy. In 2019, he and his wife established the Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. James has also been involved in the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2010 and co-chair since 2021.