Tony Ressler is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Ares Management Corporation, a publicly traded, leading global alternative investment manager with assets under management of approximately $671 billion as of June 30, 2026. Ares operates investment groups that invest in credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. Ares has more than 4,430 employees with its headquarters in Los Angeles and + 60 offices across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

In the not-for-profit sector, Ressler serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and is a Founding Board Member of the NBA Foundation. Through the Ressler Gertz Family Foundation, he supports organizations focused on expanding access to education, healthcare, employment training and workforce development, as well as strengthening cultural institutions.

In the public education sector, Ressler is a Founder and Former Chairman of the Alliance for College Ready Public Schools, one of the largest and most successful nonprofit public charter school networks in the nation, operating 26 high-performing, tuition-free middle and high schools in Los Angeles communities that are systemically underserved. Alliance has a proven record of success for its nearly 13,000 scholars and nearly 20,000+ alumni.

In June 2015, Ressler acquired the Atlanta Hawks and since then, he has served as Principal Owner and Governor. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Hawks Foundation. In Atlanta, the Resslers and the Hawks are deeply involved in community-focused initiatives, including programs to enhance K-12 education, promote Black economic empowerment, and build bridges through basketball – a longstanding Hawks project. The Ressler Gertz Family Foundation committed to a multi-year, multi-million-dollar grant to the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship—the largest center in the U.S. providing business plan development, mentoring, access to markets and capital and networking opportunities to Black entrepreneurs.

Ressler received his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.