Byrne founded and leads Kitebrook Partners, a real estate development and investment company. In 2024, Kitebrook launched a sustainable data center platform in the Nordic region of Europe to help address the worldwide shortage of green power sources for data centers.
Byrne has an extensive background in data center development. In 2001, he and Bill Conway, Co-founder of The Carlyle Group, founded DigiPlex, a Nordic-based data center company, which they built into a world leader in data center sustainability. DigiPlex was sold to IPI Partners in late 2020, and now operates under the brand STACK Infrastructure.
Before his pioneering work in data centers, Byrne developed private residence clubs, starting with restoring Palazzo Tornabuoni, a 15th century Medici palazzo in Florence, Italy. The Palazzo underwent a $250 million re-development and has been operating for 15 years, with members from 38 countries. In 2010, the project won Urban Land Institute’s prestigious Award of Excellence for EMEA.
In 1992, Byrne co-founded BAA-McArthurGlen, which exported the designer outlet concept from America to the UK and Europe. After opening the company’s Paris office, he led its expansion across Europe, resulting in more than 30 million annual shopping visits and more than $1 billion in annual sales. Byrne began his career developing high-end mixed-use projects in Washington, DC in the 1980s and ‘90s.
A Cum Laude graduate of Harvard College, Byrne earned his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He is a visiting lecturer at his alma maters, both of which have written case studies on Byrne and his ventures. In 2008, Byrne published his book, Le Deal, the tale of how he and his partners at McArthurGlen built a billion-dollar business.
After living in Europe for three decades, Byrne now resides in the Washington, DC area with his wife Pamela. They have raised four daughters. Byrne and Pamela are active in philanthropy for conservation, education and clean energy causes. Byrne also pursues sailboat ocean racing.