J. Tomilson Hill
Tom Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Tomilson Hill III May 24, 1948 New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Hedge fund executive, businessman |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Known for | Former president and CEO of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM) |
| Notable work | Leadership at BAAM, chairman of private investments at Two Sigma |
James Tomilson "Tom" Hill III (born May 24, 1948) is an American billionaire hedge fund executive and former president and CEO of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM), the hedge fund arm of the Blackstone Group.
Early life and education
Born in New York, Hill attended The Buckley School and Milton Academy, where he competed as a varsity wrestler. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College with a B.A. focusing on history, literature, and Japanese studies, and contributed to The Harvard Lampoon. Subsequently, he earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Career
Hill launched his professional journey in 1973 at First Boston as a founding principal in its mergers and acquisitions division. He later led M&A at Smith Barney before joining Lehman Brothers in 1982 as a partner specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Over time, he advanced to head of M&A, then head of Investment Banking, and ultimately co-CEO. Notably, filmmaker Oliver Stone identified Hill as one of the inspirations behind the character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street.
During his tenure at Lehman Brothers, Hill was instrumental in the 1988 takeover contest for RJR Nabisco, which was the largest leveraged buyout at that time and a pivotal moment in private equity history. The bestselling book Barbarians at the Gate described him as having “an oiled-back Gordon Gekko haircut atop 5 feet, 10 inches of icy Protestant reserve.”
Hill joined Blackstone in 1993 as co-head of corporate M&A advisory and was promoted to vice chairman by 2007. Since 2000, he has led Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM) as president and CEO, overseeing growth in assets under management from $1.3 billion to $56 billion by the close of 2013. BAAM stands as the world’s largest discretionary hedge fund allocator, with its investor base primarily comprising corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and central banks. Its expansion during a period of industry contraction was highlighted in a 2013 case study by Harvard Business Review.
Hill has delivered keynote addresses at prominent industry events such as the 2014 Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum and the 2012 Bloomberg Hedge Fund Summit. In recognition of his contributions, he was inducted into Institutional Investor's Alpha’s "Hedge Fund Hall of Fame" in 2014.
In spring 2021, Hill assumed the role of chairman of private investments at Two Sigma, a quantitative hedge fund managing $58 billion.
Philanthropy
Hill serves as chair of Lincoln Center Theater and previously chaired the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. His board memberships include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Council on Foreign Relations, Telluride Foundation, Advantage Testing Foundation, and Our Lady Queen of Angels School located in East Harlem.
In 2014, the Frick Collection showcased "Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Hill Collection," an exhibition featuring thirty-three statuettes from his personal collection dating between the mid-fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. In 2017, Hill established the Hill Art Foundation in Chelsea to publicly exhibit his private art collection.
Personal life
Residing in Manhattan with his wife Janine W. Hill—director of fellowship affairs and strategic planning at the Council on Foreign Relations—Hill is father to two daughters: Margot Langdon Hill Kirby and Astrid Hill Lloyd.
In 2004, he sold Mark Rothko’s No. 6 (Yellow, White, Blue Over Yellow on Gray) (1954) for $17.3 million at Sotheby’s auction house, setting a record price for the artist.