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Blackstone Group Inc. named Ruth Porat, Google’s finance chief, to its board of directors, a move that comes as the Wall Street firm shifts toward technology and growth investments.
Porat joined Google as chief financial officer in May 2015 and took on the same responsibility at its parent company, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +0.58% GOOG, +0.65% , later that year. Porat had previously spent 27 years with Morgan Stanley, where she led investing giant Blackstone’s initial public offering in 2007.
Blackstone BX, +3.69% , one of the world’s largest real-estate investors, in recent quarters expanded its footprint in areas such as warehousing and logistics. Those industries are set to benefit from consumers’ shift toward more online shopping — a trend that has been exacerbated by local store closures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The company also ramped up its investments in fast-growing online and technology businesses such as dating app Bumble and health-care software company HealthEdge.
With her roles at Google and Alphabet, Porat is adding important knowledge to Blackstone’s board, said Kevin Rippey, co-head of internet research at investment bank Evercore Inc. “Google is probably the primary catalyst for selling goods online,” Rippey said. “Ms. Porat sits at the intersection of tech and finance.”
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com:
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