Ken Jones is the founder and chairman of Keyhole Partners, a diversified family office with global investments in real estate, private equity, private credit, venture capital as well as opportunistic verticals in North America. The firm also owns numerous stakes in a broad array of operating businesses ranging from maritime transportation to industrial manufacturing both domestically and abroad. He is most recently the founder and former managing partner of Third Lake Partners, a global firm dedicated to the investment management and capital deployment for numerous clients who own and operate some of the largest privately-held global companies. Since inception, he led the strategy and growth of the firm which continues to invest in a broad array of alternative assets around the world. Ken also co-chaired the firm’s investment committee, was on numerous portfolio company boards and served on fund advisory committees for firms such as KKR, Goldman Sachs and others. Additionally, he co-founded Third Lake Development, one of the largest commercial real estate owners and developers in the nation focusing on multi-family, SFR, self-storage, value-add office, industrial and senior living across the Southeast. In 2012, also founded and was chairman & CEO of Third Lake Capital, a large asset management and investment arm for a North American family.
While at Third Lake in 2016, Ken founded Fairbourne Properties, a commercial real estate investment and management firm headquartered in Chicago and continues as the company’s chairman today. Fairbourne manages ten million square feet of real estate across the U.S. and has $2+ billion AUM. Prior to founding the Third Lake organizations and Fairbourne, Ken was executive vice president and senior managing director of CEA Group, a TMT and real estate-focused private equity and investment banking firm with offices in Florida, New York and Europe.
Before joining CEA in 2005, Ken spent the prior decade in legal, government, and management positions in Washington, D.C. where he served as chief counsel and deputy chief of staff for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and the Senate Rules & Administration Committee. He led oversight of numerous legislative agencies including
Capitol Police, Smithsonian Institutions and Library of Congress, with annual budgets totaling $3+ billion and more than 5,000 employees. Ken also worked on national security and intelligence issues, held multiple top-secret security clearances (TS/SCI/HUMINT) and was instrumental in implementing revamped continuity processes for the U.S. Government after the September 11th terrorist attacks. In various capacities, he has traveled to 65 countries during his professional career.
Earlier in his career, Ken practiced law at the Washington D.C. law firm Patton Boggs. His clients included POTUS, Fortune 500 companies and various federal officials. His work centered on public policy, campaign finance, Congressional ethics in addition to constitutional law and corporate finance. Ken began his career in Washington, DC where he served as counsel to a national political party. During the 2000 election, Ken served as counsel in Palm Beach and Washington, DC during the Florida presidential recount. He has also served in senior leadership roles to six successive Presidential Nominating Conventions and two U.S. Presidential Inaugurations. In 2012, Ken was appointed President and CEO of the Republican National Convention where he was responsible for day-to-day executive management of all host committee responsibilities for the convention including raising more than $100 million in public and private contributions.
Ken currently serves on the Florida Board of Governors which oversees the State’s public university system which has been ranked #1 in the U.S. for the past consecutive eight years. He is also the current chairman of the investment committee for the State of Florida’s pension fund, controlling $280 billion in plan assets. Ken additionally serves on numerous philanthropic and community boards including the Florida Council of 100, Moffit Cancer Center and formerly Tampa Bay’s Performing Arts Center. He previously served on the executive committee for the NFL Host Committee when Tampa hosted the 2021 Super Bowl as well as the National Football Foundation. He graduated with honors from Florida State University with a degree in communication with an interdisciplinary focus on economics and earned his law degree from the University of Florida where he was a member of Florida Blue Key and was elected by his fellow students as President of the University of Florida Bar Association.