Principal & President
Gary M. Sumers is a Principal and the President of Raven with over 40 years of experience analyzing, managing and sourcing investments. Mr. Sumers provides leadership and perspective across Raven’s strategic, investment, operational, and business development efforts. Prior to joining Raven, he was a Senior Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of the real estate group of Blackstone (NYSE:BX). He joined Blackstone within months of the commencement of their real estate business and today the Firm has nearly 900 real estate professionals worldwide and real estate equity capital under management in-excess of $300 billion. During his 19 years at Blackstone, some of Mr. Sumers’ responsibilities included being a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee, oversight of the Strategic Real Estate Asset Management group, oversight of Investor Financial Reporting as well as Investor Relations and Business Development groups. Mr. Sumers was also a member of numerous Boards of Directors and served on many firm-wide management committees.
Prior to joining Blackstone, he was the Chief Operating Officer of General Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP), at the time, one of the largest publicly traded regional mall companies in the U.S. Prior to joining General Growth Properties Mr. Sumers spent eleven years at JMB Institutional Realty Corporation where he was the Managing Director in charge of the Real Estate Asset Management group. He began his career practicing law in Chicago.
Mr. Sumers served for eight years as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee at Washington University in St. Louis. He was also one of six members of the Board of Directors of the University Managed Endowment Pool, which today has assets in excess of $13 billion. He also serves on the Board of Directors and numerous committees of the Oakwood School, a K-12 private school in Los Angeles.
Mr. Sumers graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University in St. Louis, received his law degree from Northwestern University and attended the London School of Economics.
