Hamilton E. James to Join The Blackstone Group as Vice Chairman

NEW YORK – The Blackstone Group announced today that Hamilton E. James will join Blackstone as Vice Chairman effective November 1^st, 2002. Mr. “Tony” James is joining Blackstone from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity. Prior to CSFB, Mr. James spent 25 years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he built DLJ’s investment banking arm into the largest and most profitable division at DLJ, as well as building DLJ’s private equity business into one of the world’s largest and most successful managers of third party private capital.

Mr. James will oversee Blackstone’s private equity and M&A investment banking groups, and will have responsibility for identifying and developing new business opportunities for the firm. He will be a member of the firm’s management and executive committees and will report to Blackstone President and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman.

Mr. Schwarzman said, “This is an exciting day for Blackstone. Tony has developed an outstanding record on Wall Street where he has one of the best investment records in private equity and is one of the industry’s most dynamic senior executives in investment banking. We are extremely delighted that Blackstone is fortunate enough to be welcoming him as a colleague. His experience and track record makes him uniquely suited to Blackstone’s business mix, having started and run DLJ’s highly successful private equity business, as well as being the driving force behind DLJ’s dramatic growth in the investment banking business. Tony’s reputation for investment acumen, creativity and entrepreneurial activity will be a tremendous asset for Blackstone.”

Mr. James said, “I have long admired Blackstone as the premier independent merchant bank, and I am excited to help invest one of the largest pools of private capital in the world. I think this is also an excellent opportunity to grow Blackstone’s high end investment banking advisory business in today’s environment as more and more companies are seeking trusted senior bankers who can provide objective advice not burdened by conflicts.” On departing CSFB, Mr. James added, “John Mack’s vision and drive are legendary. He provided CSFB with a new direction and focus in a remarkably short time and under very difficult circumstances. I count him and my colleagues from DLJ and later CSFB as good friends and continue to rate them as among the best in the business.”

About Blackstone

The Blackstone Group, a private investment bank with offices in New York, and London, was founded in 1985 by its Chairman, Peter G. Peterson, and its President and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman. The Blackstone Group’s six core businesses are Corporate Private Equity Investing, Real Estate Private Equity Investing, Corporate Debt Investing, Marketable Alternative Asset Management, Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory, and Restructuring & Reorganization Advisory. Blackstone recently announced that it had received capital commitments for its latest private equity fund, Blackstone Capital Partners IV, of $6.45 billion, making it the largest private equity fund ever raised. With Blackstone Capital Partners IV, the total amount of funds raised by The Blackstone Group for corporate private equity investing is now over $14 billion. The total capital committed across all of the firm’s alternative asset investing businesses (private equity, real estate, corporate debt, and marketable alternative asset management) is now around $25 billion (http://www.blackstone.com).

About Hamilton E. James

Hamilton E. James was most recently Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity at CSFB. Tony joined CSFB in November 2000 when CSFB merged with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Before the merger, he served as Chairman of DLJ’s Banking Group, responsible for the firm’s highly successful investment banking and private equity operations. Mr. James, who joined DLJ in1975, founded DLJ’s merchant banking activity in 1985, and was elected Chairman of the Banking Group in 1995.

Mr. James graduated from Harvard College. He also earned an MBA with high distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar. He currently serves as a Director of Costco Wholesale Corporation and is actively involved with a number of charities.

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