Zuckerman to step down as Boston Properties CEO

Mort Zuckerman
Mort Zuckerman

Real estate and media mogul Mort Zuckerman is stepping down as head of Boston Properties, the biggest U.S. office real estate investment trust. His replacement will be Owen Thomas of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Bloomberg reported.

Zuckerman, 75, plans to stay on as executive chairman. Thomas, 51, oversaw the liquidation of Lehman’s real estate assets, including the $6.5 billion sale of apartment operator Archstone to Samuel Zell’s Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities.

Thomas signed a three-year agreement to serve both as CEO and sit on Boston Properties board. His annual base salary will be $750,000.

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“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,” Zuckerman, who co-founded the REIT in 1970, said today in a statement.

Thomas “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,” Zuckerman, who also owns the New York Daily News, said.  [Bloomberg] —Christopher Cameron