James was executive vice chairman of Blackstone Inc., retiring after two decades in January 2022. The New York-based private equity firm managed over $1.3 trillion in assets as of December 2025. The billionaire has collected more than $3 billion from dividends and stock sales and also acts as chairman of Costco Wholesale.
The majority of James' fortune is derived from proceeds related to his stake in Blackstone Inc., a private equity firm that has over $1.3 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to its website. James owns about 15.8 million shares of Blackstone, in common and partnership units convertible on a one-for-one basis, according to the company's 2023 annual report.
He has received more than $1 billion in compensation and dividends since 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from the prospectus filed prior to Blackstone's initial public offering and data compiled by Bloomberg from annual compensation disclosures since. In addition, James has collected more than $2 billion in share sales, including the proceeds he earned at the company's IPO.
The billionaire has a family office called Jefferson River Capital. He's also behind private equity firm Madison River Capital, according to a March 2024 Bloomberg News report.
He's also chairman of Costco Wholesale Corp. and has a 0.01% stake in the company, according to the 2025 proxy statement.
His cash balance is based on an analysis of his dividend income, insider transactions, taxes and market performance.
Hamilton Evans James was born in 1951. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1973, obtaining a bachelor of arts on a John Harvard scholarship, according to his biography on Blackstone's website. James, who goes by Tony, subsequently attended Harvard Business School. He graduated in 1975 as a Baker Scholar with high distinction.
James joined Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette in 1975 as an investment banking associate. He went on to manage the bank's global mergers and acquisitions group in 1982, then founded the institution's merchant banking group in 1985. The billionaire was named chairman of the banking group in 1995. He joined Blackstone in 2002 after 27 years at DLJ, which at that point had been taken over by Credit Suisse.
James has presided over deals such as Equity Office Properties, which Blackstone took over for $39 billion in 2007. That year, he also helped to fashion Blackstone's initial public offering, when the company sold shares to the public for $31 apiece. In 2008, James engineered the purchase of credit manager GSO Capital. In 2018, James assumed the role of executive vice chairman, reporting to Schwarzman.
James lives in New York City with his wife Amabel Boyce James. He has a family office called Jefferson River Investments.