Donald Quintin

When the notoriously private billionaire John Grayken stepped down as CEO of Lone Star Funds in 2024, Quintin took his place at the Dallas-based distressed real estate specialist.

Grayken poached Quintin from Merrill Lynch after he negotiated a deal for Lone Star to buy $31 billion of mortgage-backed securities from the financial outfit at 22 cents on the dollar. Lone Star Funds has invested $787.3 billion in real estate between its founding in 1995 and 2025. The firm has arranged total capital commitments of approximately $95 billion across 25 funds since 1995.

Under Quintin’s leadership, the firm’s $2.7 billion opportunistic fund has been fueling a spree of distressed‑office purchases, including a downtown Denver tower for $132.5 million. In February 2025, the Lone Star Funds’ 7th fund, together with Highline and Square2, bought the 23‑story Bank of America tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale for roughly $220 million. Lone Star also recently snapped up a $343 million portfolio of troubled New York City loans at a modest discount, expanding its portfolio of distressed CRE.

— Jess Hardin