Boston Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust, yesterday announced that Owen D. Thomas will succeed Mortimer B. Zuckerman as chief executive officer and join the Board of Directors.
Zuckerman will remain as executive chairman and return to his original role in company activities.
Thomas is a 25-year veteran of the industry. He is currently the chairman of the board of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the successor company to Lehman Brothers, where he has overseen the disposition of a range of assets, including the sale of Archstone to Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities, Inc. for $15 billion.
Thomas also held various senior positions at Morgan Stanley for over 20 years, including serving as head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate and as chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd.
Said Zuckerman, “As part of our succession planning process with the Board, we have been focused on identifying the right person to take over as CEO of the Company – a role I inherited in 2010 after my long-time business partner and Boston Properties co-founder Ed Linde passed away.
“I could not be more pleased that, after a very thorough process, Owen Thomas will become our new CEO. He is an accomplished executive and well known throughout our industry, and he is the right person to lead the company for the future and to build on our success.
“Boston Properties has tremendous momentum as we adhere to a disciplined strategy of focusing on high-quality, iconic assets in attractive markets. Together with Doug Linde, Ray Ritchey and our other talented colleagues, Owen will build on that legacy and we look forward to his contributions.”
Thomas commented, “Boston Properties has been at the forefront of real estate investing for over four decades, and the Company’s strong reputation and track record of successful investing and development speaks for itself. I’m honored to have the opportunity to join such an accomplished company and also to work closely with Mort and the rest of the outstanding leadership team.”
Thomas received a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
