Ben Brown

At 34, Brown made Crain’s 40 under 40 list as an EVP at Brookfield. Now at just over 40, he’s the Co-President of Real Estate and head of the Americas region, leading real estate strategy for one of the largest alternative asset managers in the country.

The global firm has made enormous bets on New York, with retail centers including Brookfield Place near the World Trade Center and, more recently, Manhattan West in Hudson Yards. The firm also owns 660 Fifth Ave, an office building.

Brown, a Fort Lauderdale native, has risen through Brookfield’s corporate labyrinth. When he joined the firm in 2010 its real estate business was a publicly traded office REIT, but its stock suffered and the parent firm brought it back under the private fold in 2021.

Now Brown leads investment and portfolio management for one of the largest mall operators and office owners in the country. And despite e-commerce headwinds he remains bullish on retail.

“The store is actually just as important as it was,” he said on the podcast No Cap. “The experience and the format and what you get from going to the store is different. And that’s fine.”