Key Takeaways
- • Carlyle Group co-founders David M. Rubenstein, William E. Conway Jr., and Daniel A. D'Aniello announced on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, that they were handing over daily management of the firm to chosen successors.
- • The leadership transition is part of a broader generational turnover in private equity, as firm founders prepare their businesses for life after retirement.
- • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) outlined its own succession plan roughly three months earlier, according to the New York Times.
- • Rubenstein said in an interview from Riyadh that "the firm is in better financial shape than it's ever been" and that the initiative was the founders' own, not prompted by outside pressure.
Summary
The three co-founders of The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms, have announced they are relinquishing day-to-day management of the firm to their designated successors, according to the New York Times. The announcement was made on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, by David M. Rubenstein, William E. Conway Jr., and Daniel A. D'Aniello.
Rubenstein, who co-founded Carlyle roughly 30 years ago, has been the most visible face of the firm. The Times reported that he raised billions of dollars for investments, struck deals with brands including Dunkin' Donuts and Beats Electronics, and lobbied Congress to protect a tax arrangement that made the private equity business highly lucrative. He also became a prominent public figure through his roles on nonprofit boards and in the media. Carlyle grew from a series of meetings at the Carlyle Hotel in New York into one of the industry's most well-connected firms, with advisers that included former President George H.W. Bush and former British Prime Minister John Major.
The Times framed the handover as part of a generational turnover across private equity, in which the industry's founding billionaires are preparing their firms for their own retirement. It noted that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had outlined its own succession plan just three months earlier.
In an interview from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended a gathering known as "Davos in the Desert," Rubenstein said the firm was "in better financial shape than it's ever been" and stressed that the move was self-initiated: "This was our initiative. Nobody was pushing us to do it." The primary source provided no further detail on the names of the successors or the specific terms of the transition.
Rubenstein, who co-founded Carlyle roughly 30 years ago, has been the most visible face of the firm. The Times reported that he raised billions of dollars for investments, struck deals with brands including Dunkin' Donuts and Beats Electronics, and lobbied Congress to protect a tax arrangement that made the private equity business highly lucrative. He also became a prominent public figure through his roles on nonprofit boards and in the media. Carlyle grew from a series of meetings at the Carlyle Hotel in New York into one of the industry's most well-connected firms, with advisers that included former President George H.W. Bush and former British Prime Minister John Major.
The Times framed the handover as part of a generational turnover across private equity, in which the industry's founding billionaires are preparing their firms for their own retirement. It noted that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had outlined its own succession plan just three months earlier.
In an interview from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended a gathering known as "Davos in the Desert," Rubenstein said the firm was "in better financial shape than it's ever been" and stressed that the move was self-initiated: "This was our initiative. Nobody was pushing us to do it." The primary source provided no further detail on the names of the successors or the specific terms of the transition.
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