Richard Byrne Returns as CEO of Franklin BSP Realty Trust as Michael Comparato Steps Back
Finance chief Jerry Baglien adds a Co-President title and takes charge of Benefit Street Partners’ commercial real estate debt platform, extending the reshuffle beyond the listed REIT into the sponsor’s broader lending business.
September 18, 2026
Franklin BSP Realty Trust has brought Richard Byrne back as chief executive officer, effective September 16, 2026, unwinding a succession that moved him out of the corner office only in February. Byrne, who remains chairman of the board, succeeds Michael Comparato, who resigned on September 15 to step back from day-to-day executive duties and spend more time with his family.
Comparato is not leaving the Benefit Street Partners orbit. He will move into a senior advisor role at BSP, FBRT’s external manager, and hold that post through 2027.
Baglien’s Expanded Mandate
The reshuffle also elevates Jerry Baglien, who keeps his chief financial officer and chief operating officer titles and adds the role of Co-President alongside Brian Buffone. Baglien will take responsibility for leading BSP’s commercial real estate debt platform, a mandate that reaches beyond FBRT itself into the sponsor’s broader lending business.
A Succession Plan Reversed
Byrne led FBRT as CEO from 2016 until February 2026, when the board installed Comparato, then president, as chief executive and promoted Buffone to president under a management succession plan. That plan has now been unwound, leaving the two executives who were meant to carry the company forward sharing the president’s title under the man they succeeded.
Lead independent director Elizabeth Tuppeny said the board expects Byrne’s knowledge of the portfolio and its strategic priorities, together with the existing management team, to provide continuity and disciplined execution as FBRT works to improve portfolio performance. Byrne pointed to the company’s investment platform, its leadership bench and BSP’s resources, and said the priorities remain disciplined portfolio management, prudent capital allocation and rigorous execution of strategy.
Why It Matters for the Non-Traded Products
The changes reach beyond FBRT’s listed shareholders because the same executives sit atop BSP’s non-traded vehicles:
- Byrne is chairman and chief executive of Franklin BSP Capital Corporation, the platform’s business development company;
- Baglien is chief financial officer of Franklin BSP Real Estate Debt, the sponsor’s private real estate debt offering.
Advisors allocating to those products are, in effect, backing the same team whose configuration was just rearranged.
FBRT is an NYSE-listed REIT that originates, acquires and manages commercial real estate debt secured by U.S. properties, with approximately $6.4 billion of assets as of June 30, 2026. BSP had $96.4 billion in assets under management as of the same date, including Apera, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, which reported more than $1.83 trillion in assets under management as of August 31, 2026.
