Wesley LePatner, a top executive at investment firm Blackstone, is being remembered by loved ones and colleagues as a devoted family woman, respected leader, and trusted friend following her tragic death in Monday’s mass shooting at a New York City office building.
LePatner, 44, was one of four people killed in the attack at a Park Avenue office tower, alongside Didarul Islam, Aland Etienne, and Julia Hyman.
In a statement, her family described her as “the most loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, and relative, who enriched our lives in every way imaginable.”
“To so many others, she was a beloved, fiercely loyal and caring friend, and a driven and extraordinarily talented professional and colleague,” the family continued. “At this unbearably painful time, we are experiencing an enormous, gaping hole in our hearts that will never be filled, yet we will carry on the remarkable legacy Wesley created.”
LePatner served as the CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, having joined the firm in 2014 after over a decade at Goldman Sachs. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, where she met her future husband on their very first day of college in 1999, according to author Bruce Feiler.
“She was the most effortless and impressive person — you wanted to follow her wherever she went,” Feiler wrote in a tribute on Facebook. “She felt like the kind of leader we all want and need in these unsettling times.”
Blackstone also issued a statement mourning her loss, calling LePatner a “brilliant, passionate, warm, generous, and deeply respected” colleague who “embodied the best of Blackstone and beyond.”
“Words cannot express the devastation we feel,” the company said. “Our prayers are with her husband, children, and family.”
The LePatner family has requested privacy as they grieve. A court date and further updates on the investigation into the shooting are expected in the coming days.
