Blackstone’s former international chief financial officer Vijay Bharadia has been made an independent non-executive board member of The Crown Estate, the reigning UK monarch’s property company.
According to the business, Bharadia has “substantial and wide-ranging experience” in financial, operational and risk management in the alternative asset management sector, including real estate.
As well as being Blackstone’s international CFO for a decade, where he was responsible for financial, tax and regulatory reporting across Europe and Asia, Bharadia has also been employed at Intermediate Capital Group, EMEA Equities and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Bharadia also becomes the chair of The Crown Estate’s audit committee and becomes the fifth independent non-executive board member of the group along with Sir Robin Budenberg CBE, who will continue as chair after having his final term extended.
Sir Robin’s second and final term is extended by until July 2025. The Crown Estate said this would “ensure a smooth transition once a new chair has been appointed”. Sir Robin is also the current chair of Lloyds Banking Group and the former London chair of Centerview Partners. He was also previously chair and chief executive of UK Financial Investments.
Dame Karen Jones DBE has been re-appointed to the Crown Estate's board, by Royal Warrant, to serve a second four-year term. Dame Karen’s term began at the start of this year, four years after she was appointed to the board. She was also previously a senior independent board member.
The Crown Estate describes Dame Karen as a successful entrepreneur and non-executive, with wide-ranging experience in the food, retail and leisure markets, co-founding Café Rouge and The Pelican Group.