Simon’s career in applied data started more than 25 years ago as a graduate at Reuters where he learnt the fact that not all data is created equally and that it constantly evolves — and organisations that react faster, better, more precisely have the edge. In due course he progressed to building technology companies; in 2009 he co-founded QuantumBlack, a data analytics firms with roots in Formula 1 which was subsequently acquired by McKinsey in 2015.
In 2020 he set up WovenLight with the vision of applying cutting-edge data analytics and AI to generate superior performance across each aspect of the investment lifecycle. Today he is focused on weaving to deliver upon two aspects: first, post-acquisition portfolio value creation by deploying AI driven templates alongside GP initiatives and management to improve operational performance; and second, pre-acquisition rapid diagnostics leveraging our playbook, benchmarks and AI tooling to accelerate diligence and quantification of value opportunities to better underpin a deal across buy-side, sell-side, and credit.
He lives in Twickenham, south-west London, with his wife, two sports-mad children and a faithful hound.
John was Global Group Head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (“BAAM”), the $82 billion AUM hedge fund and asset management division of The Blackstone Group, and a member of Blackstone’s firm-wide Operating Committee. Under John’s leadership, BAAM achieved record financial results, nearly doubling revenue to $1.3 billion in four years, while achieving record distributable and fee-related earnings and delivering strong performance for the firm’s institutional LPs. John is also credited with launching Blackstone’s data science initiative and playing a leading role in the firm’s move into democratized alternatives. Over the course of his almost 17-year career at BAAM, John was responsible for several business units, including GP Stakes & Seeding, Global Business Development, Global Strategy, and Product Development.
Prior to joining Blackstone in 2005, John was an Associate Principal in the Financial Institutions practice at McKinsey & Company, an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell, and a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. John holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Vassar College.
John spent the spring semester of 2022 as an Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School, where he led a reading group on emerging technologies and received the 2022 Alumni Achievement Award from the Yale Law and Business Society.
