Connor Teskey, 36, appointed heir in Brookfield CEO succession 

The future is looking bright for 36-year-old Connor Teskey at Brookfield Asset Management.

Teskey is being groomed to eventually take over as CEO, according to interviews with current CEO Bruce Flatt in Bloomberg.

While Flatt, a Brookfield mainstay for more than two decades,  still has a way to go at age 59 until retirement, his succession planning is regarded as an “evolution, not a revolution,” according to Bloomberg. Whereas many succession plans happen as a matter of necessity when someone dies or retires, Flatt’s succession is being carefully planned with an eye for the long-term future.

Flatt said he does not have a date set for the transition. “It will be whenever it’s natural to do it,”  which he said will be when all clients, business partners and people inside are comfortable with it.

Teskey put himself on the map when he proposed a $5 billion deal in 2019 that is credited with making Brookfield the world’s second largest alternative-asset manager, according to Bloomberg. 

Teskey first pitched the idea of Brookfield taking a controlling stake in Oaktree Capital Management, eventually guiding his company to pay $4.8 billion for a 61 percent stake in Oaktree.

The calculated move ultimately planted Brookfield as a major player in Wall Street’s credit market.

Brookfield is a Toronto-based firm with assets approaching $1 trillion. If Teskey ultimately becomes CEO, he is on track to become a billionaire, Bloomberg said. While the succession is not considered imminent, Teskey’s rise in the firm has been impressive.

Teskey has had a variety of investment and management roles since he first joined Brookfield in 2012, after handling corporate debt origination at a Canadian bank. Teskey’s current role is President and he also is the CEO of the subsidiary Brookfield Renewable Partners.

 — Christina Previte

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