Biography
Richard A. Baker is an experienced executive and visionary with a strong track record of identifying opportunities at the intersection of retail and real estate. He serves as governor, executive chairman and CEO of HBC L.P., a holding and investment company with a portfolio of North American retail and real estate businesses, including Hudson’s Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks OFF 5TH, and HBC Properties & Investments. He is also executive chairman of each of HBC’s operating companies.
Baker is an owner of National Realty & Development Corp., one of the largest real estate development firms in the United States. He also serves as chairman of the board of Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., a Nasdaq-listed REIT focused on acquiring retail properties on the West Coast.
At HBC, he has led the company’s long-term growth strategy, including taking the company private in March 2020. He also has a strong record of completing value-enhancing transactions, including the sale of the Lord + Taylor Fifth Avenue building and the company’s German real estate and retail assets.
Baker serves on the Cornell University Board of Trustees and has contributed to several university councils and boards, including the Baker Program in Real Estate Advisory Board, School of Hotel Administration (now the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration) at Cornell University Dean’s Advisory Board, Center for Real Estate and Finance Advisory Board, and Center for Real Estate and Finance Industry Fellows program. He earned a Bachelor of Science in hotel management from Cornell University in 1988.