Benjamin Butcher – STAG Industrial

Good Dirt: Conversations with Leaders in Real Estate & Beyond

Ben Butcher currently serves as Executive Chairman of the Board, following his 12-year tenure as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors since STAG’s formation in July 2010. Prior to the formation of STAG Industrial, Mr. Butcher oversaw the founding and growth of its predecessor business, serving as CEO and a member of the Board of Managers of STAG Capital Partners, LLC, STAG Capital Partners III, LLC, and their affiliates from 2003 to 2011. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Butcher was engaged as a Private Equity Investor in real estate and technology. From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Butcher served as a Director at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he sourced and executed transactions for the principal transactions group (real estate debt and equity). Prior to that, he served as a Director at Nomura Asset Capital from 1993 to 1997, where he focused on marketing and business development for its commercial mortgage-backed securities group. Mr. Butcher serves as a member of the board of trustees and a member of the audit committee and compensation committee of Elme Communities (formerly WashREIT), an owner of multi-family properties in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Mr. Butcher holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Our conversation with Ben begins with his graduation from Bowdoin College and his path to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Ben then talks us through his first role post-MBA in the paper business and his departure from that industry upon hearing about opportunities in the commercial real estate brokerage arena. Ben then took on a variety of entrepreneurial development pursuits, a crash course in the ‘blocking and tackling’ of commercial real estate dealmaking. From there, Ben’s interest in making the jump into real estate finance was piqued when a friend from Tuck recruited him using the overture: “it’s playtime without adult supervision.” That kicked off Ben’s colorful career with Nomura and Credit Suisse First Boston, in the go-go days of CMBS lending and charging hard with the era’s most prolific lenders.

Finally, we get to the formation of STAG Capital Partners upon Ben and his partners’ recognition of an opportunity in the industrial market, and the fight through numerous headwinds to successfully complete the platform’s IPO as STAG Industrial (NYSE: $STAG). STAG Industrial has grown significantly since its IPO to become a highly-regarded industrial REIT, owning and operating over 111.7 million square feet across 562 buildings in 41 states, with a 12/31/22 market cap of $8.4 billion.

This was an unfiltered, high-voltage conversation and we appreciate Ben’s candor in sharing his story with us!

As Discussed: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Thunder Road’ Tribute to Tim Russert (June 2008)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ul2ivcmDQ

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Mike Greeley

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Tom Greeley

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