Robbie Robinson

June 23, 2015

Robbie is Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Opportunity Development at BDT & Company. Based in Chicago, BDT provides trusted strategic advice and unique investment capital to closely held companies that are controlled or significantly influenced by a family or entrepreneur. To date, BDT has raised more than $9 billion of investment capital from a carefully constructed network of investors who are predominantly owners of world-class closely held businesses. Robbie has been at BDT since its inception in May 2009.

At the firm, Robbie is responsible for both advising and investing in closely held businesses across a variety of industries including real estate, consumer products and sports & entertainment. In this capacity, he provides team leadership and support in several critical areas including transaction execution and investment monitoring. Robbie led the firm’s acquisition and successful redevelopment of The Wrigley Building, one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings. Additionally, he works with and is responsible for managing several of the firm’s priority client and limited partner relationships. And, as Chief Operating Officer of Opportunity Development, he plays an active role in the pursuit, coordination and cultivation of new relationship opportunities for the firm. Prior to BDT, Robbie spent nine years at Goldman, Sachs & Co., in New York and Chicago, working in both advisory and investment capacities.

Robbie is an engaged civic leader in Chicago. He is principally focused on improving the lives of Chicago’s youth, particularly those under-served in disadvantaged communities. Since 2014, Robbie has served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for After School Matters, the largest after school program in the country that provides more than 15,000 Chicago high-school teens with opportunities to explore and develop their talents, while gaining critical skills for work, college and beyond. Robbie also serves on the board of World Business Chicago and is a Trustee of the Bonner Foundation.

Robbie is a 1998 Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate and Trustee of Morehouse College. During his time as a student at Morehouse, Robbie was a recipient of The Oprah Winfrey Merit Scholarship and The Bonner Foundation Community Service Scholarship. In 2015, the Robbie Robinson Finish Line Scholarship was created at Morehouse to provide last resort funding for graduating seniors. To date, more than 175 Morehouse students have received the scholarship.

Robbie and his wife, D’Rita, a social impact entrepreneur and Trustee of Spelman College, have two children – Ava, 11 and Austen, 8.

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