Blue Owl's Sean Connor - a growth company in a growth industry that is investing in megatrends

What It Covers

Sean Connor, CEO of Blue Owl's private wealth division, explains how the firm scaled from $160B to $300B AUM by diversifying beyond direct lending into digital infrastructure and real estate while expanding internationally.

Key Questions Answered

• •Product Diversification Strategy: Blue Owl reduced direct lending from 80% to 50% of evergreen flows over three years while growing total flows 2.5x by adding asset-based finance, triple net lease, and digital infrastructure strategies to capture broader market opportunity.
• •Wealth Channel Implementation Gap: Advisors now understand private markets allocation guidance but lack technology to execute tradable models combining public and private assets. This represents the next major adoption hurdle requiring product innovation and operational infrastructure to solve at scale.
• •International Expansion Playbook: Build wealth presence organically by anchoring with largest local partners first, hiring local expertise, investing heavily in education, and avoiding assumptions that US strategies translate directly. Each new geography takes longer initially but accelerates once established with local credibility.
• •Digital Infrastructure Risk Mitigation: Blue Owl structures data center investments as 15-20 year leases with hyperscalers rated double-A, generating 9-12% returns from credit quality alone rather than betting on specific AI technologies or residual asset values, protecting downside while capturing infrastructure growth.