Robert E. Grady (born October 1957) is an American
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
ist,
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
investor, and former public official. He has worked at such leading investment firms as
Robertson Stephens
Robertson Stephens is a wealth management firm serving high net worth individuals and family offices. The firm is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor.
Robertson Stephens was founded as ...
,
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
, and
Summit Partners, and for a number of elected officials, including former President
George H. W. Bush and New Jersey Governors
Tom Kean and
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
.
Early life and education
Grady was born in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and grew up in
Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the 27,391 counted in the 2000 Census. In 2019, the Population Estimates Prog ...
, where he attended
Livingston High School, graduating as part of the class of 1975. He graduated cum laude from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, where he was an editor of the ''
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than ...
''. Grady earned a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...
from the
Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he later served on the faculty for over a decade as a Lecturer in Public Management.
Career
Business
Grady is currently a partner at Summit Partners, a pioneer in growth private equity investing, where he has served as an Advisory Partner since January 2021, and where he co-led and sits on the Board of Directors of the firm's investment in OTR Capital. He was formerly with Gryphon Investors, a middle-market private equity firm, where he led the firm's Industrial Growth Group and later oversaw Business Development. He has been cited in the press as having led Gryphon's investments in Pacur, Potter Electric Signal Corporation, Transportation Insight, Nolan Transportation Group, and Washing Systems, which was sold to Japan's Kao Corporation in 2018.
Previously, he was a partner at the private equity fund-of-funds Cheyenne Capital, which invested in private equity funds and in private transactions for the State of Wyoming's Permanent Funds. For nearly a decade before that, he was a prominent partner at
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
, where he served as Managing Director, member of the Management Committee, and head of Venture and Growth Capital. He was a director of several Carlyle companies, including
Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. was an American educational technology company with corporate headquarters in Reston, VA. It was known for Blackboard Learn, a learning management system. It merged with Anthology in late 2021, with the future name of the combin ...
, AuthenTec (which executed an IPO in 2007, and was later sold to
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
),
Wall Street Institute
Wall Street English (formerly Wall Street Institute) is an international English language learning academy
for children and adults around the world. Wall Street English was established in 1972 in Italy by Italian Luigi Tiziano Peccenini.
The c ...
(sold to
Pearson PLC), eScreen (sold to Alere Corp.), and
Viator
Viator is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. José Brocca
José Brocca (Professor José Brocca Ramón, 1891 – 1950) was a pacifist and humanitarian of the Spanish Civil War, who allied himself ...
(sold to
TripAdvisor). During his tenure at Carlyle, Grady also served for six years as a Director and as Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, which represents more than 400 U.S. venture capital firms. In that role, Grady argued that the United States needed to adopt a strategy to enhance competitiveness, as the previously successful system of investing in higher education, allowing immigration for talented foreign born nationals, and ensuring access to the U.S. capital markets for growing companies was crumbling. In 2011, he gave a TEDx talk on “The Care and Feeding of the Innovation Ecosystem”.
In the 1990s, Grady was a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee at
Robertson Stephens
Robertson Stephens is a wealth management firm serving high net worth individuals and family offices. The firm is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor.
Robertson Stephens was founded as ...
, an investment bank focused on
growth companies
In finance, a growth stock is a stock of a company that generates substantial and sustainable positive cash flow and whose revenues and earnings are expected to increase at a faster rate than the average company within the same industry. A growth c ...
in technology and healthcare, that was acquired by
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
and subsequently by
BankBoston
BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 19 ...
.
Politics
Grady began his career as
Legislative Assistant and later Administrative Assistant for former U.S. Representative
Millicent H. Fenwick (R-NJ). He went on to serve as
Director of Communications
Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...
for former New Jersey Governor
Thomas H. Kean. Grady was the chief speechwriter and a senior policy advisor for the
George H. W. Bush 1988 presidential campaign, and later served in
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
as Associate Director of the
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
("OMB") for Natural Resources, Energy and Science (1989–1991), Executive Associate Director of the OMB, and
Deputy Assistant to the President
The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...
(1991–1993).
He was widely known for advising Bush in the crafting of the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most infl ...
.
Noted early in his career by ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' as “one of three thirty-somethings to watch” (along with
Condoleezza Rice and
Robert Zoellick
Robert Bruce Zoellick (; ; born July 25, 1953) is an American public official and lawyer who was the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he held from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2012. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sach ...
) and the “polished No. 2” at the Office of Management and Budget in
George H. W. Bush administration
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
, Grady has emerged over the years as an adviser to various leading
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidates and public officials. Grady served as an economic adviser to
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
,
Mitt Romney, California Governors
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
and
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
of New Jersey, and
Matt Mead
Matthew Hansen Mead (born March 11, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the D ...
of Wyoming.
In 2001, President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
appointed Grady to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Trade and Policy Negotiations, and he was later appointed by the
Administrator of NASA
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to ...
to be a member of the
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
Advisory Council's Task Force on the Cost and Management of the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...
.
Grady served as a volunteer adviser to his childhood friend
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
during Christie's tenure as Governor of New Jersey and in the
Chris Christie 2016 presidential campaign. Grady served as co-chairman and member of Christie's Transition Task Force on Budget and Taxes, as the author of his Inaugural Address and his annual state-of-the-state and budget addresses to Joint Sessions of the Legislature, as Chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the state's $80 billion pension plan, and as a debate coach, policy advisor and speechwriter for his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. When Governor Christie began his run for the Presidency, Grady was reported as having coached Christie for the presidential debates as well as being the author of detailed and well-received policy speeches on economic growth, entitlement reform and energy given by Christie.
In
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
, Grady has been active as a speaker on the economy, mentor to start-up companies, and organizer of economic growth initiatives. He was a volunteer economic advisor to Wyoming Governor
Matt Mead
Matthew Hansen Mead (born March 11, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Wyoming from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the D ...
. Today, he is a member of the Wyoming State Banking Board, a Director of the
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) is a ski resort in the western United States, at Teton Village, Wyoming. In the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains, it is located in Teton County, northwest of Jackson and due south of Grand Teton Nationa ...
, past Chairman of the St. John's Hospital Foundation, and a member of the Investment Committees of both the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and of the Daniels Fund.
In December 2021, it was reported that Grady is considering running for Congress or Senate from Wyoming. Grady says he has no immediate plans to run, but that he was "very encouraged by
Glenn (Younkin)'s victory" in Virginia.
Media
Grady has appeared frequently in the national media as a spokesman for pro-growth economic policies and as an advocate for strategies to increase the economic competitiveness of the United States. He has published numerous articles and has appeared in the ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'',
''TIME'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', and the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
''. Grady has appeared on
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
,
Fox Business News
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
, and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
’s ''
Nightline'' as a spokesman for growth-oriented economic policies, streamlined regulation, and generally
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
fiscal positions.
[ ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grady, Robert E.
1959 births
American businesspeople
Living people
Livingston High School (New Jersey) alumni
People from Livingston, New Jersey
People from Orange, New Jersey
Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
The Harvard Crimson people