Charles “Chuck” Leitner has left Berkshire and will now help oversee CBRE Group's $107B of assets under management worldwide.
A commercial real estate veteran with more than four decades of experience, Leitner has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Berkshire to take over as the Global CEO of CBRE Global Investors, CBRE Group said Tuesday.
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CBRE Global Investors is CBRE’s investment management arm.
Leitner, who was with Berkshire since 2013, succeeds T. Ritson Ferguson, who will take over as CEO of CBRE Clarion Securities, CBRE officials said.
Longtime Berkshire executive David Olney, who served as the managing director and head of multifamily investments, appears to have been promoted and has taken over Leitner’s previous role as CEO of Berkshire, according to Berkshire’s website.
Berkshire and CBRE Group did not reply to Bisnow requests for comment about Leitner’s role and where he will be based by press time.
As CEO of Berkshire, Leitner oversaw all aspects of the Boston-based company’s activities and operations. Along with his duties as president and CEO, Leitner was a member of Berkshire’s Board of Directors and Berkshire’s Investment Committee, according to his bio.
In June, job and recruiting site Glassdoor named Leitner a Top CEO in 2019 in the small and medium business category and awarded him a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award. The award is given to CEOs who receive positive reviews from their employees. Leitner received a 98% approval rating on the site.
“Chuck has all the qualities we are looking for in the leader of our investment management business,” CBRE Global CEO Real Estate Investments Daniel Queenan said in a statement. “He is an accomplished investor and operator and a strategic thinker with wide-ranging experience. Our people and our business will flourish under his strong leadership."
Leitner will report to Queenan.
Before joining Berkshire, Leitner had also served as chairman and CEO of the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance. He spent 24 years at RREEF Property Trust, where he helped grow the business to $80B in alternative assets under management.
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