Hello from the West Coast! Sending you into the weekend with all the women to know making moves this week. More news below and back here with more on Monday…
After the tragic shooting of Blackstone’s Wesley LePatner in July, the firm has chosen an executive to take over her role. Katie Keenan will become CEO of the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and global head of Core+ real estate. Keenan had been serving as CEO of BXMT, Blackstone’s publicly traded commercial mortgage real estate investment trust, and co-chief investment officer of its real estate debt business. Keenan said that LePatner “cared deeply about this business, and I’m going to be doing my best to help honor her legacy.”
Meg Whitman, the former HP and eBay CEO, joined the board of AI operations platform Motive. It’s backed by Kleiner Perkins.
Leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder appointed Lindsay Trout and Hana Habayeb as co-leaders of the firm’s Global Technology Practice Group.
Laundry startup Rinse hired Jennifer Betka as CMO. She’s an alum of Indigo and StubHub.
Francesca Bellettini is the new CEO of Gucci. Here’s her to-do list in the closely-watched role, from Vogue Business.
Lumata Health, which aims to end preventable blindness for people facing chronic eye disease, named Nastran Andersen chief growth officer.
Biopharma company Invivyd, Inc. named Kristie Kuhl chief communications officer.
GUT: the agency promoted Natalia Davila to chief strategy officer, U.S.
Rachele Harmuth is now chief product officer at CrunchLabs.
Sonsie, Pamela Anderson’s beauty brand, named Kailey Bradt CEO. She’s been working with the brand (without the CEO title) since its inception.
The National Geographic Society has named Jennifer Chick its chief marketing and brand officer.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
PBS's CEO is optimistic about the future of government funding for the broadcaster. At Axios's Media Trends Live, Paula Kerger said funding for PBS is back on the table as part of a continuing resolution proposal. Axios
Revelations from Kamala Harris's book continue to trickle out. The former VP says she wanted to choose Pete Buttigieg as her running mate, but thought it was too risky for a Black woman to run alongside a gay man. While she wrote that she thought Buttigieg understood, he's since pushed back on the assertion. Washington Post
After Charlie Kirk's death, his wife Erika Kirk is becoming a louder voice for conservative women. She wants to continue Kirk's legacy by advocating for the traditional "American family"—gender roles and all—and her support could lead to policy momentum on the matter. Alex Clark, who worked for Kirk's Turning Point USA, is now a rising conservative voice too. New York Times
Texas A&M is the next cultural battlefield. The university's president stepped down over his handling of backlash to a children's literature course that recognized more than two genders. The school had already fired the instructor and two administrators after a student filmed herself arguing with the professor, with the student citing Trump's assertion that there are only two genders. New York Times
Victoria's Secret's new CEO is embracing sexy again. Hilary Super wants to put a modern spin on sexy this time around. She dives into her strategy and background in a new interview. Wall Street Journal
ON MY RADAR
How did Taylor Swift convince the world that she's relatable? The Atlantic
The plot to free the nuns New York Times
Inside Disney's abrupt decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's show Wall Street Journal
PARTING WORDS
"My business has been through so much. And it’s all been very public. Being the celebrity who is the brand is a double-edged sword."
— Victoria Beckham, who is the subject of a forthcoming Netflix documentary following the success of the streamer's series about her husband
