Equity Investments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

The Company's investments represent noncontrolling equity interests in various entities, including investments for which fair value option was elected, as follows:



(In thousands)	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Equity method investments
Investment ventures	$	2,151,847	$	1,297,180
Private funds	138,248		229,874
	2,290,095		1,527,054
Other equity investments
Marketable equity securities of consolidated funds	26,754		35,600
Investment ventures	95,196		89,261
Private funds and retail companies	34,291		38,924
	$	2,446,336	$	1,690,839

Equity Method Investments

The following tables present selected combined financial information of the Company's equity method investees:

Selected Combined Balance Sheet Information



(In thousands)	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Total assets	$	15,499,159	$	9,537,068
Total liabilities	9,803,705		5,357,936
Owners' equity	5,511,548		3,662,764
Noncontrolling interests	183,906		516,368

Selected Combined Statements of Operations Information



	Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)	2018		2017			2016
Total revenues	$	1,486,511	$	1,519,728		$	819,726
Net income (loss)	220,191		174,222			(32,493		)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	23,878		(18,381		)	(3,494		)
Net income (loss) attributable to owners	196,313		192,603			(28,999		)

The Company’s investments accounted for under the equity method, including investments for which fair value option was elected, are summarized below:



($ in thousands)			Ownership Interestat December 31, 2018⁽¹⁾	Carrying Value at
Investments	Description		Ownership Interestat December 31, 2018⁽¹⁾	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc.	Common equity in publicly traded commercial real estate credit REIT managed by the Company and membership units in its operating subsidiary	(2)	36.6%	$	1,037,754	$	—
NorthStar Realty Europe Corp	Common equity in publicly traded equity REIT managed by the Company	(2)	11.2%	87,696		73,578
RXR Realty	Common equity in investment venture with a real estate investor, developer and investment manager		27.2%	95,418		105,082
Preferred equity	Preferred equity investments with underlying real estate	(3)	NA	219,913		440,704
ADC investments	Investments in acquisition, development and construction loans in which the Company participates in residual profits from the projects, and the risk and rewards of the arrangements are more similar to those associated with investments in joint ventures	(4)	Various	481,477		331,268
Private funds	General partner and/or limited partner interests in private funds (excluding carried interest allocation)		Various	110,610		25,101
Private funds—carried interest	Disproportionate allocation of returns to the Company as general partner or equivalent based on the extent to which cumulative performance of the fund exceeds minimum return hurdles		Various	21,730		—
Other investment ventures	Interests in 18 investments, each with no more than $66 million carrying value at December 31, 2018		Various	154,412		187,420
Fair value option	Interests in initial stage or real estate development ventures and limited partnership interests in private equity funds		Various	81,085		363,901
				$	2,290,095	$	1,527,054

__________

⁽¹⁾

The Company's ownership interest represents capital contributed to date and may not be reflective of the Company's economic interest in the entity because of provisions in operating agreements governing various matters, such as classes of partner or member interests, allocations of profits and losses, preferential returns and guaranty of debt. Each equity method investment has been determined to be either a VIE for which the Company was not deemed to be the primary beneficiary or a voting interest entity in which the Company does not have the power to control through a majority of voting interest or through other arrangements.

⁽²⁾

These entities are governed by their respective boards of directors. The Company's role as manager is under the supervision and direction of such entity's board of directors, which includes representatives from the Company but the majority of whom are independent directors. In connection with the Company's investment in NRE, the Company has an ownership waiver under NRE’s charter which allows the Company to own up to 45% of NRE’s common stock, and to the extent the Company owns more than 25% of NRE’s common stock, the Company will vote the excess shares in the same proportion that the remaining NRE shares not owned by the Company are voted.


⁽³⁾	Some preferred equity investments may not have a stated ownership interest.


⁽⁴⁾	The Company owns varying levels of stated equity interests in certain ADC investments as well as profit participation interests without a stated ownership interest in other ADC investments.