John Joseph Paul Studzinski, CBE (born 19 March 1956) is an American-British investment banker and philanthropist. Since September 2018 he has been managing director and vice chairman of the global investment-management firm PIMCO.
Prior to joining PIMCO, he was vice chairman of investor relations and business development and a senior managing director at Blackstone Inc. He had joined Blackstone in 2006 as global head of Blackstone Advisory Partners, the company's mergers and acquisitions advisory arm, and he ran that division for nearly a decade. Prior to joining Blackstone, he was at Morgan Stanley from 1980 to 2003, and at HSBC from 2003 to 2006, building mergers-and-acquisitions divisions in both institutions.
Studzinski is involved in philanthropy, patronage, and charity work, mainly around the arts, the homeless, and human rights. His charity, the Genesis Foundation, supports creatives early in their careers. He co-founded and chairs the Arise Foundation, which combats human trafficking and slavery.
Born and raised in the U.S., Studzinski moved to the UK in 1984, and holds American and British citizenship.Clark, Nick. "John Studzinski: The banker marrying business and the arts". The Independent. 19 June 2013. Since 2006, he has divided his time between London and New York.Dalley, Jan. "Lunch with the FT: John Studzinski". Financial Times. 21 January 2011.
Early life and education John Studzinski was born on 19 March 1956, in Peabody, Massachusetts, a town 15 miles northeast of Boston. His parents were working-class Polish immigrants, and his father was a financial manager at General Electric's aircraft-engine division.Nayeri, Farah. "Blackstone's Studzinski Gives Millions Nurturing Tomorrow's Art". Bloomberg. 2 October 2007. Education and industriousness were emphasized in the family, and music as well.Handy, Charles. The New Philanthropists. Random House, 2011. pp. 197–198. His was a traditional Polish Catholic family and community, and Catholicism and Christianity were a bedrock in his life."John Studzinski: Senior director at Blackstone who does God and Mammon". The Telegraph. 1 June 2008. He worked in soup kitchens as a teenager, and helped start a toll-free number to inform adolescents about sexually transmitted diseases.Wakefield, Mary. "Private passions: Mary Wakefield talks to John Studzinski about philanthropy and the importance of art". The Spectator. 24 September 2011.
Studzinski attended prep school at St. John's Preparatory School in Massachusetts, graduating in 1974."Notable Alumni". St. John's Preparatory School. StJohnsPrep.org. Archived 11 April 2015."St. John's Prep Opens New Library". In: MBLC Notes, November/December 2003: Library Happenings. Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. November/December 2003. Archived 14 April 2015. He graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College in 1978, with a BA degree in biology and sociology. He received an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago in 1980.John Studzinski CBE. FT Business of Luxury Summit, 30 May – 1 June 2012. Financial Times. 2012.
Career
Morgan Stanley After receiving his MBA, Studzinski began his investment banking career in New York in 1980 on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley. He spent 23 years at the company, in positions of increasing responsibility. In 1984 he moved to London to create and build Morgan Stanley's European mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory business.Orr, Deborah. "New Ledger". Forbes. 1 March 2004. He served as head of the European investment banking division and deputy chairman of Morgan Stanley International. By the time he left Morgan Stanley in 2003, the division he built was the number three European M&A advisory.Spikes, Sarah. "Studzinski leaving raises doubts about HSBC's commitment". Financial Times. 18 May 2006.
HSBC In June 2003, Sir John Bond at London-based multinational bank giant HSBC hired Studzinski to create and build an investment banking division, along with Stuart Gulliver. As co-head of investment banking at HSBC Group, and a member of the Group Management Board,About John Studzinski. John Studzinski's blog. Retrieved 3 April 2015. Studzinski was in charge of mergers and acquisitions, while Gulliver built the markets side of the investment banking franchise."HSBC rests its M&A ambitions on Studs". Institutional Investor. 1 May 2003. Studzinski made a number of hirings, and grew the new M&A division."John Studzinski Joins Blackstone" . The Blackstone Group. 18 May 2006. After three years at HSBC, following Bond's retirement, Studzinski left for Blackstone in May 2006.
Blackstone In 2006, Studzinski joined Blackstone Inc., an American multinational corporation based in New York City. He joined as the senior managing director in its investment and advisory group and as a member of the firm's executive committee.Moyer, Liz. "Hitting A Brick Wall". Forbes. 18 May 2006. He was recruited to oversee and develop Blackstone's mergers-and-acquisitions advisory business, Blackstone Advisory Partners, in the United States and Europe, and to open an office in London.Wachman, Richard. "Cracking the Studzinski code". The Observer. 7 October 2006. CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman said in 2006 that Studzinski's "outstanding track record in transatlantic investment banking will be invaluable in accelerating the growth of our advisory business".
Studzinski is based in both New York and London. His primary role as global head of Blackstone Advisory Partners was to oversee Blackstone's corporate M&A advisory services business in the U.S., and further develop the corporate M&A advisory business in Europe and Asia. He was personally involved in many of the firm's largest advisory assignments. He advised multinational corporations, conglomerates, governments, banks, and institutions, on acquisitions, equity investments, restructurings, spin-offs, mergers, and overseas operations.Bloomberg Dealmakers Summit – Speakers . BloombergLive.com. 2013.John Studzinski at LinkedIn. Retrieved 13 March 2015.Blackstone Advisory Partners – Selected Transactions. The Blackstone Group. Blackstone.com. Archived 15 March 2015.
In early 2015, Blackstone began spinning off three of its divisions, including its M&A advisory group, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest with its primary private-equity business."Blackstone to list advisory arm early 2015". Financial Times. 10 October 2014.Dezember, Ryan. "Blackstone Group to Spin Off Financial Advisory Business". Wall Street Journal. 10 October 2014.Blackstone: Our History (October 2015). Blackstone. Blackstone.com. Retrieved 30 January 2018. After assisting with the transition,Roumeliotis, Greg and Paritosh Bansal. "UPDATE 4-Blackstone gives up its roots in advisory unit spin-off". Reuters. 10 October 2014. Studzinski became Vice Chairman of Investor Relations and Business Development at Blackstone.John Studzinski – Official profile, Blackstone. Retrieved 18 January 2018."E.U. Estrangement Before The Divorce (a.k.a Volatility)". Fund Portfolio Management. 23 January 2015. In this capacity, he holds responsibility for a number of sovereign and international institutional relationships, as well as ultra high-net-worth families outside the U.S.
PIMCO In September 2018, Studzinski was appointed to the newly created roles of managing director and vice chairman of the global investment-management firm PIMCO.Martin, Will. "John Studzinski — a key figure in one of the biggest deals of the financial crisis — is joining Pimco". Business Insider. 5 September 2018.Baumgaertel, Christian; Bhaktavatsalam, Sree Vidya. "Pimco Hires Ex-Blackstone's Studzinski to Advise Top Clients". Bloomberg News. 5 September 2018. He acts as an advisor to PIMCO clients including governments, pension funds, corporations, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and foundations.Flood, Chris; Smith, Peter; Fontanella-Khan, James. "Pimco hires former Blackstone executive John Studzinski". Financial Times. 5 September 2018.de la Merced, Michael J.; Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "Pimco Hires Top Deal Maker From Blackstone". New York Times. 5 September 2018.Ge Huang, Vicky. "Pimco boosts exec office with Blackstone hire". Citywire. 5 September 2018. He will also help PIMCO's expand globally.Clark, Jessica. "Investment management firm Pimco hires ex-Blackstone vice chair John Studzinski". City A.M. 5 September 2018.
He spends his time in London, New York, and Asia Pacific and he reports directly to CEO Emmanuel Roman.
A Talent for Giving In September 2025, John’s first book A Talent for Giving was published by Bloomsbury Publishing, released in the UK on 18 September and in the US on 18 November.
The book explores the philosophy and practice of what John Studzinski calls entrepreneurial giving. Through his advocacy of an entrepreneurial approach, John encourages readers to discover how best to channel their passions and apply their talents to creating a more generous society.
The Financial Times placed A Talent for Giving on its top business reading list for November 2025, noting it "makes a powerful, practical case for a hands-on, face-to-face approach to giving and volunteering".
Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney described the book as "a pilgrimage we can all follow to multiply our unique talents, transform ourselves, and promote the common good" while the artist Grayson Perry said it "made me really think about what it means to give, to care, to be generous."
Philanthropy In his philanthropic activities, Studzinski focuses primarily on the arts and creative industries, human rights and homelessness. He consistently emphasises the importance of human dignity and the role in philanthropy of mentoring and active networks. In 2008, he was awarded a CBE for his Services to the Arts and Charity and he has received a number of other awards for his philanthropic activities.
Arts Genesis Foundation
In 2001 Studzinski established the Genesis Foundation, a UK-registered charity. It supports and nurtures outstanding artists and creative professionals, especially in the early stages of careers in music, theatre, and the visual arts.Genesis Foundation. GenesisFoundation.org.uk. The Genesis Foundation has supported thousands of artists with funding totalling more than £22 million.
The Foundation mainly operates through partnerships with leading British arts organisations such as the Almeida Theatre, National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, The Sixteen, Jewish Literary Foundation and Royal Academy of Arts. The programmes funded by the Genesis Foundation train and mentor early and mid-career artists in playwriting, the creation of music theatre, directing, singing, conducting, theatre design, art curation and the writing of fiction and non-fiction.
While its core funding is devoted to training programmes that equip emerging artists for life as a creative professional, the Genesis Foundation is also the UK's largest commissioner of sacred music, having commissioned 30 new choral works to date.
Among these is James MacMillan's Stabat mater, a 60-minute work for choir and string orchestra commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by Harry Christophers, The Sixteen and Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican Centre, London in October 2016. The Stabat mater has been described as a masterpiece and the recording of the work has won numerous awards. In April 2018 a performance of MacMillan's Stabat mater, presented by the Genesis Foundation, became the first concert to be live-streamed from the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The work subsequently received its US premiere in New York at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall (November 2019), again with Harry Christophers conducting The Sixteen.