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KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global
investment company An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under the ...
that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strategic partners, hedge funds. , the firm had completed more than 650 private equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $675 billion of total enterprise value. , assets under management ("AUM") and fee paying assets under management ("FPAUM") were $471 billion and $357 billion, respectively. The firm was founded in 1976 by
Jerome Kohlberg Jr. Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (July 10, 1925 – July 30, 2015) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early pioneer in the private equity and leveraged buyout industries founding private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later Koh ...
, and cousins Henry Kravis and
George R. Roberts George Rosenberg Roberts (born 1944) is an American financier. He is one of the three original partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which he co-founded alongside Jerome Kohlberg and first cousin Henry Kravis in 1976. Early life George Ro ...
, all of whom had previously worked together at Bear Stearns, where they completed some of the earliest leveraged buyout transactions. Since its founding, KKR has completed a number of transactions, including the 1989 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, which was the largest buyout in history to that point, as well as the 2007 buyout of
TXU TXU or txu may refer to: *TXU Corporation (formerly "Texas Utilities") a USA group companies **TXU Energy, energy generation subsidiary of TXU Corp. **TXU Energi, subsidiary of TXU Europe, formerly "The Energy Company" *txu, ISO:639 code for the K ...
, which is currently the largest buyout completed to date."What's An Aging 'Barbarian' To Do?"
''The New York Times'', August 26, 2001.

''The New York Times'', September 6, 2008.
In October 2009, KKR listed shares in the company through KKR & Co., an affiliate that holds 30% of the firm's ownership equity, with the remainder held by the firm's partners. In March 2010, KKR filed to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with trading commencing four months later, on July 15, 2010. KKR had offices in 21 cities in 16 countries across five continents.KKR locations
(company Web site); retrieved March 8, 2010.
The firm was headquartered in the
Solow Building The Solow Building, also known as 9 West 57th Street, is a skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1974 and designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it is west of Fifth Avenue between 57 ...
(9 West 57th Street, New York, New York), but in October 2015, announced its intention to occupy the newly-constructed
30 Hudson Yards 30 Hudson Yards (also the North Tower) is a Supertall building, supertall skyscraper in the West Side (Manhattan), West Side of Midtown Manhattan, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Located near Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, Chelse ...
.


The firm

KKR is led by its executive leadership team, Henry Kravis,
George R. Roberts George Rosenberg Roberts (born 1944) is an American financier. He is one of the three original partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which he co-founded alongside Jerome Kohlberg and first cousin Henry Kravis in 1976. Early life George Ro ...
, Joseph Bae, and Scott C. Nuttall. The firm employs approximately 375 investment professionals and 1,250 total employees as of December 31, 2017. KKR is headquartered at
30 Hudson Yards 30 Hudson Yards (also the North Tower) is a Supertall building, supertall skyscraper in the West Side (Manhattan), West Side of Midtown Manhattan, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Located near Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, Chelse ...
, Manhattan, New York, with offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco ( California), Houston ( Texas), London, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai, Riyadh, Seoul, São Paulo, Singapore, and
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
.


Senior leadership

* ''Chairmen:'' Henry Kravis and George Roberts (since 1987) * ''Chief Executives:'' Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae (since 2021)


List of former chairmen

#
Jerome Kohlberg Jr. Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (July 10, 1925 – July 30, 2015) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early pioneer in the private equity and leveraged buyout industries founding private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later Koh ...
(1976–1987); co-chairmen


List of former CEOs

# Henry Kravis, George Roberts, and
Jerome Kohlberg Jr. Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (July 10, 1925 – July 30, 2015) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early pioneer in the private equity and leveraged buyout industries founding private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later Koh ...
(1976–1987); co-CEOs # Henry Kravis and George Roberts (1987–2021); co-CEOs


Business structure

In a 2016 interview with Bloomberg, founder Henry Kravis described KKR in terms of three broad buckets: private markets, public markets, and capital markets. The firm has traditionally specialized in private equity investments, focusing on specific industry sectors where the firm has created dedicated investment groups, including:


Business segments

KKR's business operates in four segments: private markets, public markets, capital markets, and principal activities. Through its private markets segment, the firm manages and sponsors a group of private equity funds that invest capital for long-term appreciation, either through controlling ownership of a company or strategic minority positions. In addition to traditional private equity funds, KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in growth equity and core equity. The firm also manages and sponsors investment funds that invest capital in real assets, such as infrastructure, energy, and real estate.


Private markets

KKR has raised 23 private and growth equity funds with approximately $102.9 billion of capital commitments through December 31, 2017. Its private equity investment strategy typically seeks to engage primarily in management buyouts, build-ups, or other investments with a view to acquiring a controlling or significant influence. The firm has sourced several smaller growth equity investments and expanded the business by launching dedicated growth equity funds. KKR's first dedicated growth equity fund, launched in 2016, invests in the technology, media, and telecommunications sector, primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel. In 2016, KKR also launched its second dedicated growth equity fund to pursue investments in the health care sector, also primarily in the United States. As of December 31, 2017, they have received $2.0 billion of capital commitments to these strategies. In 2017, they further expanded on their private equity business by making their first core equity investment, targeting investments that have a longer holding period and a lower risk profile.


Energy

KKR's energy business aims to deliver current returns to fund investors through distributions generated by producing and selling oil and natural gas reserves and capital appreciation and targets real asset investments across the upstream and midstream segments of the oil and gas industry. KKR invests in these energy strategies primarily through the KKR Energy Income and Growth Fund. As of December 31, 2017, they have received $2.9 billion of capital commitments to their energy funds and $1.0 billion of capital commitments to this strategy through separately managed accounts.


Infrastructure

KKR's infrastructure platform seeks to achieve returns including current income through the acquisition and operational improvement of assets important to the functioning of the economy. The platform has made investments in parking, alternative energy, district heating and contracted electricity generation, water, and wastewater, locomotive transportation, midstream, and telecommunications infrastructure. As of December 31, 2017, KKR had received $4.1 billion of capital commitments to its infrastructure funds and $1.1 billion of capital commitments to this strategy through separately managed accounts and co-investment vehicles.


Real Estate

KKR's real estate platform targets real estate equity primarily in the United States and Western Europe. The firm's equity investments include direct investments in real property, debt, special situations transactions, and businesses with significant real estate holdings. As of December 31, 2017, KKR has received $3.9 billion of capital commitments through its real estate equity investment funds. KKR's real estate credit platform provides capital services for complex real estate transactions with a focus on commercial mortgage-backed securities, whole loans, and subordinated debt. As of December 31, 2017, KKR managed approximately $2.2 billion of assets in its real estate credit strategy, which includes KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. ("KREF"), an NYSE-listed real estate investment trust ("REIT"), and $1.1 billion of capital commitments through a real estate credit fund.


Public markets


Credit

KKR's credit business invests capital in leveraged credit strategies, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, opportunistic credit and revolving credit strategies, and alternative credit strategies, including special situations and private credit strategies such as direct lending and private opportunistic credit (or mezzanine) investment strategies.


Hedge Funds

KKR's hedge fund business consists of strategic manager partnerships with third-party hedge fund managers in which KKR owns a minority stake. As of December 31, 2017, the strategic manager partnerships with third-party hedge fund managers accounted for $26.2 billion of AUM.


BDCs

In December 2017, FS Investments and KKR announced they are pooling together more than $18 billion in private capital to invest in mid-sized businesses, in a push to do bigger deals which are out of reach for other alternative lenders.


Capital markets

KKR's capital markets business mainly arranges debt and equity transactions for the firm, its portfolio companies, and third parties. KKR's capital markets group raised $815 million of debt needed to close the purchase of Mills Fleet Farm in 2016.


Principal activities

The Principal Activities segment uses KKR's balance sheet assets to support its investment management and capital markets businesses. KKR uses this capital for general partner commitments and to establish a track record for fundraising purposes in new strategies, such as the approximately $1 billion invested in KKR's real estate business as of 2017.


History


Founding and early history

While running the corporate finance department for Bear Stearns in the 1960s and 1970s, Jerome Kohlberg, and later Henry Kravis and George Roberts, completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments. They targeted family-owned businesses, many of which had been founded in the years following World War II, that were facing succession issues. Many of these companies lacked a viable exit for their founders because they were too small to be taken public and the founders were reluctant to sell out to competitors. In 1964, Lewis Cullman acquired and then sold Orkin Exterminating Company in what some call the first significant leveraged buyout transaction. In the following years the three Bear Stearns bankers completed a series of buyouts including Stern Metals (1965), Incom (a division of Rockwood International, 1971), Cobblers Industries (1971), and Boren Clay (1973), as well as Thompson Wire, Eagle Motors and Barrows through their investment in Stern Metals. Despite a number of highly successful investments, the $27 million investment in Cobblers ended in bankruptcy. By 1976, tensions had built up between Bear Stearns and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts, which led to the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The name had been going to be Kohlberg Roberts Kravis, but public relations advisors preferred the sound of KKR. Most notably, Bear Stearns executive
Cy Lewis Salim L. "Cy" Lewis (October 5, 1908 – April 28, 1978) was the Managing Partner of Bear, Stearns & Company, running the company from 1949 until shortly before his death in 1978. Early life Salim or "Cy" was born Salim Lissner Lewis on October ...
had rejected repeated proposals to form a dedicated investment fund within Bear Stearns. The new KKR completed its first buyout, of manufacturer A.J. Industries, in 1976. KKR raised capital from a small group of investors including the Hillman Company and
First Chicago Bank First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD (following its 1995 merger with ...
. By 1978, with the revision of the ERISA regulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with over $30 million of investor commitments. In 1981, KKR expanded its investor base after the Oregon State Treasury's public pension fund invested in KKR's acquisition of retailer
Fred Meyer, Inc. Fred Meyer is an American chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are found in the northwest U.S., within the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company merged w ...
Oregon State remains an active investor in KKR funds. In 1979 KKR completed a risky, precedent-setting ($380 million) public-to-private leveraged buyout of a large conglomerate
Houdaille Industries Houdaille Industries was a diversified manufacturing company which produced automotive products, industrial products, machine tools, construction materials and contracting. The company had its beginnings in Buffalo, New York, in 1919, where the ...
, a well-known producer of machine tools, industrial pipes, chrome-plated
car bumper A bumper is a structure attached to or integrated with the front and rear ends of a motor vehicle, to absorb impact in a minor collision, ideally minimizing repair costs. Stiff metal bumpers appeared on automobiles as early as 1904 that had a ...
s and torsional viscous dampers, which they signed the previous year., pp. 149–169. It soon ended in a spectacular failure, breakup of the half-a-century-old company and loss of thousands of jobs, even though creditors earned a profit. Among the firm's acquisitions during the 1980s buyout boom were:


Buyout of RJR Nabisco

At age 61, Kohlberg resigned in 1987 (he later founded his own private equity firm, Kohlberg & Co.), and Henry Kravis succeeded him as senior partner. Under Kravis and Roberts, the firm was responsible for the 1988 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. RJR Nabisco was the largest buyout in history at that time, at $25 billion, and remained the largest buyout for the next 17 years. The deal was chronicled in '' Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco'', and later made into a television movie starring James Garner. In 1988,
F. Ross Johnson Frederick Ross Johnson, OC (December 13, 1931 – December 29, 2016) was a Canadian businessman, best known as the chief executive officer of RJR Nabisco in the 1980s. Early life and education Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on December 13, 1931, ...
was the president and CEO of RJR Nabisco, the company formed in 1985 by the merger of
Nabisco Brands Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...
and
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco compan ...
, a leading producer of food products. In October of that year, Johnson proposed a $17 billion ($75 per share)
management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...
of the company with the financial backing of investment bank
Shearson Lehman Hutton Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonAmerican Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
. Several days later, Kravis, who had originally suggested the idea of the buyout to Johnson, presented a new bid for $20.3 billion ($90 per share) financed with an aggressive debt package. KKR had the support of
equity co-investment An equity co-investment (or co-investment) is a minority investment, made directly into an operating company, alongside a financial sponsor or other private equity investor, in a leveraged buyout, recapitalization or growth capital transaction. ...
s from
pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...
s and other
institutional investor An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...
s. Investors included Coca-Cola,
Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...
and United Technologies corporate pension funds, as well as endowments from MIT,
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and the
New York State Common Retirement Fund The New York State Common Retirement fund is a Public employee pension plans in the United States, public pension plan for the employees of Government of New York (state), New York State government. As of 2018, it is the third largest public pensio ...
"Several Giant Pension Funds Investing in Offer for Nabisco"
''The New York Times'', October 31, 1988.
However, KKR faced criticism from existing investors over the firm's use of hostile tactics in the buyout of RJR. KKR proposed to provide a joint offer with Johnson and Shearson Lehman but was rebuffed and Johnson attempted to stonewall KKR's access to financial information from RJR. Rival private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. was invited into the process by Shearson Lehman but attempted to provide a bid for RJR with a consortium of Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Procter & Gamble, Ralston Purina and Castle & Cooke. Ultimately the Forstmann consortium came apart and did not provide a final bid for RJR. In November 1988, RJR set guidelines for a final bid submission at the end of the month. The management and Shearson group submitted a final bid of $112, a figure they felt certain would enable them to outflank any response by Kravis and KKR. KKR's final bid of $109, while a lower dollar figure, was ultimately accepted by the board of directors of RJR Nabisco. KKR's offer was guaranteed, whereas the management offer lacked a "reset", meaning that the final share price might have been lower than their stated $112 per share. Additionally, many in RJR's board of directors had grown concerned at recent disclosures of Ross Johnson's unprecedented golden parachute deal. ''Time'' magazine featured Johnson on the cover of their December 1988 issue along with the headline, "A Game of Greed: This man could pocket $100 million from the largest corporate takeover in history. Has the buyout craze gone too far?". KKR's offer was welcomed by the board, and, to some observers, it appeared that their elevation of the reset issue as a deal-breaker in KKR's favor was little more than an excuse to reject Johnson's higher bid of $112 per share. Johnson received $53 million from the buyout. KKR collected a $75 million fee in the RJR takeover. At $31.1 billion of а transaction value (including assumed debt), RJR Nabisco was, at the time, by far the largest leveraged buyout in history. In 2006 and 2007, a number of leveraged buyout transactions were completed which surpassed the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout in terms of the nominal purchase price. The deal was first surpassed in July 2006 by the $33 billion buyout of U.S. hospital operator Hospital Corporation of America, in which KKR participated. However, adjusted for inflation, none of the leveraged buyouts of the 2006–07 period would surpass RJR Nabisco.


Early 1990s: The aftermath of RJR Nabisco

The buyout of RJR Nabisco was completed in April 1989 and KKR would spend the early 1990s repaying the RJR's enormous debt load through a series of asset sales and restructuring transactions. KKR did not complete a single investment in 1990, the first such year since 1982. KKR began to focus primarily on its existing portfolio companies acquired during the buyout boom of the late 1980s. Six of KKR's portfolio companies completed IPOs in 1991, including RJR Nabisco and
Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, rechargeables and smart power systems, owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben and Philip Mallory, ...
.Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Company History
Funding Universe; retrieved February 16, 2009.
As the new decade began, KKR began restructuring RJR. In January 1990, it completed the sale of RJR's Del Monte Foods to a group led by
Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
. KKR had originally identified a group of divisions that it could sell to reduce debt. Over the coming years, RJR would pursue a number of additional restructurings, equity injections, and public offerings of stock to provide the company with added financial flexibility. KKR contributed $1.7 billion of new equity into RJR in July 1990 to complete a restructuring of the company's balance sheet. KKR's equity contribution as part of the original leveraged buyout of RJR had been only $1.5 billion. In mid-December 1990, RJR announced an
exchange offer An exchange offer in finance, corporate law and securities law, is a form of tender offer in which securities are offered as consideration instead of cash. In a bond exchange offer, bondholders may consensually exchange their existing bonds for ...
that would swap debt in RJR for a new
public stock A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
in the company, effectively an unusual means of taking RJR public again and simultaneously reducing debt on the company. RJR issued additional stock to the public in March 1991 to further reduce debt, resulting in an upgrade of the credit rating of RJR's debt from junk to
investment grade In investment, the bond credit rating represents the credit worthiness of corporate or government bonds. It is not the same as an individual's credit score. The ratings are published by credit rating agencies and used by investment professionals ...
. KKR began to reduce its ownership in RJR in 1994, when its stock in RJR was used as part of the consideration for its leveraged buyout of
Borden, Inc. Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in ...
, a producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. The following year, in 1995, KKR would divest itself of its final stake in RJR Nabisco when Borden sold a $638 million block of stock. While KKR no longer had any ownership of RJR Nabisco by 1995, its original investment would not be fully realized until KKR exited its last investment in 2004. After sixteen years of efforts, including contributing new equity, taking RJR public, asset sales, and exchanging shares of RJR for the ownership of
Borden, Inc. Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in ...
, KKR finally sold the last remnants of its 1989 investment. In July 2004, KKR agreed to sell its stock in
Borden Chemical Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in C ...
to
Apollo Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, i ...
for $1.2 billion.


Early 1990s: Investments

In the early 1990s, the absence of an active high yield market prompted KKR to change its tactics, avoiding large leveraged buyouts in favor of industry consolidations through what was described as
leveraged buildup A rollup (also "roll-up" or "roll up") is a process used by investors (commonly private equity firms) where multiple small companies in the same market are acquired and merged. The principal aim of a rollup is to reduce costs through economies o ...
s or
rollup A rollup (also "roll-up" or "roll up") is a process used by investors (commonly private equity firms) where multiple small companies in the same market are acquired and merged. The principal aim of a rollup is to reduce costs through economies o ...
s. One of KKR's largest investments in the 1990s was the
leveraged buildup A rollup (also "roll-up" or "roll up") is a process used by investors (commonly private equity firms) where multiple small companies in the same market are acquired and merged. The principal aim of a rollup is to reduce costs through economies o ...
of Primedia in partnership with former executives of Macmillan Publishing, which KKR had failed to acquire in 1988. KKR created Primedia's predecessor, K-III Communications, a platform to buy media properties, initially completing the $310 million divisional buyout of the book club division of
Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...
along with the assets of Intertec Publishing Corporation in May 1989."As Primedia Falls, Preferred Stock Lives Up to Its Name"
''The New York Times'', October 26, 2005.
During the early 1990s, K-III continued acquiring publishing assets, including a $650 million acquisition from News Corporation in 1991.https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DF103BF93AA15757C0A967958260 , ''The New York Times'', April 29, 1991 K-III went public, however instead of cashing out, KKR continued to make new investments in the company in 1998, 2000 and 2001 to support acquisition activity. In 2005, Primedia redeemed KKR's preferred stock in the company but KKR was estimated to have lost hundreds of millions of dollars on its common stock holdings as the price of the company's stock collapsed. In 1991, KKR partnered with Fleet/Norstar Financial Group in the 1991 acquisition of the Bank of New England, from the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In January 1996, KKR would exchange its investment for a 7.5% interest in Fleet Bank. KKR completed the 1992 buyout of
American Re Corporation Munich Reinsurance America (also called Munich Re America), formerly known as American Re-Insurance Corporation before September 2006, is a major provider of property and casualty reinsurance in the United States. Munich Reinsurance America is a ...
from Aetna as well as a 47% interest in
TW Corporation Trans World Corporation was the original name of the holding company set up to own Trans World Airlines. History In 1967, when the airline sought to diversify into other areas of business, a key investment was ''Hilton International Hotels'', the n ...
, later known as
The Flagstar Companies Trans World Corporation was the original name of the holding company set up to own Trans World Airlines. History In 1967, when the airline sought to diversify into other areas of business, a key investment was ''Hilton International Hotels'', the ...
and owner of Denny's in 1992. Among the other notable investments KKR completed in the early 1990s included World Color Press (1993–95), RELTEC Corporation (1995) and
Bruno's Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC was an American chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded in 1932 by Joseph Bruno in Birmingham. During the company's pinnacle, it operated over 300 stores under the names Br ...
(1995).


1996–1999

By the mid-1990s, the debt markets were improving and KKR had moved on from the RJR Nabisco buyout. In 1996, KKR was able to complete the bulk of fundraising for what was then a record $6 billion private equity fund, the KKR 1996 Fund. However, KKR was still burdened by the performance of the RJR investment and repeated obituaries in the media. KKR was required by its investors to reduce the fees it charged and to calculate its carried interest based on the total profit of the fund (i.e., offsetting losses from failed deals against the profits from successful deals). KKR's activity level would accelerate over the second half of the 1990s making a series of notable investments including Spalding Holdings Corporation and Evenflo (1996),
Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...
(1996),
KinderCare Learning Centers KinderCare Learning Centers is an American operator of for-profit child care and early childhood education facilities founded in 1969 and currently owned by KinderCare Education based in Portland, Oregon. The company provides educational programs ...
(1997),
Amphenol Corporation Amphenol Corporation is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as coaxial cables. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp. History Amphenol ...
(1997),
Randalls Food Markets Randalls operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the ''Randalls'' and ''Flagship Randalls'' banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston area and 15 stores located around the Austin area as of May 2020. Randalls today forms ...
(1997), The Boyds Collection (1998),
MedCath Corporation MedCath Corporation was an American cardiac health care company, publicly traded on the NASDAQ. The company was founded in 1988 as MedCath Partners, a for-profit corporation which offered cath lab, nuclear cardiology, and sleep medicine service ...
(1998),
Willis Group Holdings Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company with its headquarters in the Willis Building in London until its merger of equals with financial services company Towers Watson ...
(1998),
Smiths Group Smiths Group plc is a British, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 14,600 staff. Smiths Group has its origins in a jewellery shop, ''S Smith & Sons'', ...
(1999), and Wincor Nixdorf (1999). KKR's largest investment of the 1990s would be one of its least successful. In January 1998, KKR and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst agreed to the $1.5 billion buyouts of Regal Entertainment Group. KKR and Hicks Muse had initially intended to combine Regal with Act III Cinemas, which KKR had acquired in 1997 for $706 million and
United Artists Theaters Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens ...
, which Hicks Muse had agreed to acquire for $840 million in November 1997. Shortly after agreeing to the Regal takeover, the deal with United Artists fell apart, destroying the strategy to eliminate costs by building a larger combined company. Two years later, in 2000, Regal encountered significant financial issues and was forced to file for bankruptcy protection; the company passed to billionaire investor
Philip Anschutz Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and m ...
.


2000–2005

At the start of the 21st century, the landscape of large leveraged buyout firms was changing. Several large and storied firms, including Hicks Muse Tate & Furst and Forstmann Little & Company were dragged down by heavy losses in the bursting of the telecom bubble. Although KKR's track record since RJR Nabisco was mixed, losses on such investments as Regal Entertainment Group, Spalding, Flagstar and Primedia (previously K-III Communications) were offset by successes in Willis Group,
Wise Foods, Inc. Wise Foods, Inc. is a company based in Berwick, Pennsylvania, that makes snacks and sells them through retail food outlets in 15 eastern seaboard states, as well as Vermont, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. Best k ...
, Wincor Nixdorf and MTU Aero Engines, among others. Additionally, KKR was one of the few firms that were able to complete large leveraged buyout transactions in the years immediately following the collapse of the Internet bubble, including
Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1962 ...
and Bell Canada Yellow Pages. KKR was able to realize its investment in Shoppers Drug Mart through a 2002 IPO and subsequent public stock offerings.Shoppers Drug Mart Sells Shares
Retail Merchandiser, March 17, 2004; retrieved February 16, 2009.
The directories business would be taken public in 2004 as
Yellow Pages Income Fund Yellow Pages Limited (formerly Yellow Pages Income Fund and Yellow Media) is a Canadian publication and internet services company that owns and operates Canadian properties and publications including ''Yellow Pages'' directories, YellowPages.ca, an ...
, a Canadian income trust. In 2004 a
consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
comprising KKR, Bain Capital and real estate development company Vornado Realty Trust announced the $6.6 billion acquisition of Toys "R" Us, the toy retailer. A month earlier, Cerberus Capital Management, made a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses. The Toys 'R' Us buyout was one of the largest in several years. Following this transaction, by the end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts. In 2005, KKR was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of
SunGard SunGard was an American multinational company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, which provided software and services to education, financial services, and public sector organizations. It was formed in 1983, as a spin-off of the computer services div ...
in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. KKR's partners in the acquisition were
Silver Lake Partners Silver Lake is an American global private equity firm focused on investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries. Founded in 1999, the firm is one of the largest technology investors in the world. Its investment holdings have ...
, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Blackstone Group,
Providence Equity Partners Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity firm, private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented pri ...
, and TPG Capital. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988. SunGard was the largest buyout of a technology company until the Blackstone-led buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction was notable given the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest
club deal A club deal, in finance, refers to a leveraged buyout or other private equity investment that involves two or more private equity firms. It can also be referred as consortium or syndicated investment. Definition In a club deal, the investor group ...
completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.


Since 2005 and the Buyout Boom

In 2006, KKR raised a new $17.6 billion fund the KKR 2006 Fund, with which the firm began executing a series of some of the largest buyouts in history. KKR's $44 billion takeover of Texas-based power utility
TXU TXU or txu may refer to: *TXU Corporation (formerly "Texas Utilities") a USA group companies **TXU Energy, energy generation subsidiary of TXU Corp. **TXU Energi, subsidiary of TXU Europe, formerly "The Energy Company" *txu, ISO:639 code for the K ...
in 2007 proved to be the largest leveraged buyout of the mid-2000s buyout boom and the largest buyout completed to date. Among the most notable companies acquired by KKR in 2006 and 2007 were the following: Other non-buyout investments completed by KKR during this period included Legg Mason,
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
, Tarkett,
Longview Power Plant Longview Power Plant is a coal-fired power plant located near Maidsville, West Virginia. The plant's single unit generates 700 megawatt ( MW) of electricity from run-of-mine coal and natural gas. History The Longview Power project cost approxim ...
, and Seven Network. In October 2006, KKR acquired a 50% stake in Tarkett, a France-based distributor of flooring products, in a deal valued at about €1.4 billion ($1.8 billion). On November 20, 2006, KKR announced it would form a A$4 billion partnership with the Seven Network of Australia. On January 23, 2007, KKR announced it would invest $700 million through a PIPE investment in
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
. In January 2008, KKR announced it had made a $1.25 billion PIPE investment in Legg Mason through a
convertible preferred stock A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
offering. In addition to its successful buyout transactions, KKR was involved in the failed buyout of Harman International Industries (), an upscale audio equipment maker. On April 26, 2007, Harman announced it had entered an agreement to be acquired by KKR and
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
. In September 2007, KKR and Goldman backed out of the $8 billion buyout of Harman. By the end of the day, Harman's shares had plummeted by more than 24% upon the news.


Initial public offering

In 2007, KKR filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
KKR & Co. L.P., Form S-1
Securities And Exchange Commission, July 3, 2007
to raise $1.25 billion by selling an ownership interest in its management company. The filing came less than two weeks after the initial public offering of rival private equity firm Blackstone Group. KKR had previously listed its KPE vehicle in 2006, but for the first time, KKR would offer investors an ownership interest in the
management company Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...
itself. The onset of the credit crunch and the shutdown of the IPO market dampened the prospects of obtaining a valuation attractive to KKR. The flotation was repeatedly postponed and called off by the end of August. The following year, in July 2008, KKR announced a new plan to list its shares. The plan called for KKR to complete a reverse takeover of its listed affiliate KKR Private Equity Investors in exchange for a 21% interest in the firm. In November 2008, KKR announced a delay of this transaction until 2009. Shares of KPE had declined significantly in the second half of 2008 with the onset of the credit crunch. KKR has announced that it expects to close the transaction in 2009. In October 2009, KKR listed shares in KKR & Co. on the Euronext exchange, replacing KPE and anticipates a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010. The public entity represents a 30% interest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In October 2010, KKR acquired about nine members of Goldman Sachs Group
proprietary trading Proprietary trading (also known as prop trading) occurs when a trader trades stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, their derivatives, or other financial instruments with the firm's own money (instead of using depositors' money) in order to make ...
team after entertaining offers from investment firms such as Perella Weinberg and Blackrock. With Goldman shutting down its proprietary trading operations, its executives, led by Bob Howard, will help KKR expand beyond leveraged buyouts into areas such as hedge funds.


2010–present

In December 2011, Samson Investment Company was acquired by a group of private equity investors led by KKR for approximately $7.2 billion and Samson Resources Corporation was formed. With the severe downturn in oil and natural gas prices, in September 2015, the Company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and during its bankruptcy process, sold several large assets. In March 2013, KKR exited its joint venture in music company
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...
, selling its 51% stake to
Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...
. In January 2014, KKR acquired Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc for $2.4 billion from two private equity companies - Stone Point, and Hellman & Friedman. In June 2014, KKR announced it was taking a one-third stake in a Spanish energy business of Acciona Energy, at a cost of €417 million ($567 million). The international renewable energy generation business operates renewable assets, largely wind farms, across 14 countries including the United States, Italy and South Africa. In August 2014, KKR announced it was investing $400 million to acquire Fujian Sunner Development, China's largest chicken farmer, which breeds, processes and supplies frozen and fresh chickens to consumers and corporate clients, such as KFC and McDonald's, across China. In September 2014, the firm invested $90 million in a lighting and electrics firm
Savant Systems Savant Systems Inc. is a home automation company headquartered in Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. The company was founded in 2005 and is privately held. It has 200 employees at its headquarters and a further 700 through its subsidiary GE L ...
. Also in 2014, KKR acquired commercial landscaping company ValleyCrest from Michael Dell’s investment firm MSD Capital, and combined it with landscape company Brickman, which it had owned since 2013, to form BrightView. In January 2015, KKR confirmed its purchase of the British rail ticket website thetrainline.com, previously owned by Exponent. The purchase sum is unknown. On October 12, 2015, KKR announced that it has entered into definitive agreement with Allianz Capital Partners to acquire their majority stake in Selecta Group, a European vending services operator. In 2016, KKR purchased two Hispanic chains, Northern California Mi Pueblo and Ontario, California–based Cardenas. In February 2016, KKR invested $75 million in commercial real estate lender A10 Capital. On September 1, 2016, KKR announced that it had acquired Epicor Software Corporation, an American software company. In October 2016, it was reported that KKR invested $250 million in OVH to be used for further international expansion. This funding round valued
OVH OVH, legally OVH Groupe SAS, is a French cloud computing company which offers VPS, dedicated servers and other web services. As of 2016 OVH owned the world's largest data center in surface area. As of 2019, it was the largest hosting provide ...
at over $1 billion, making it a unicorn. In December 2016, the
Lonza Group Lonza Group is a Swiss multinational manufacturing company for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutrition sectors, headquartered in Basel, with major facilities in Europe, North America and South Asia. Lonza was established under that name in ...
announced it would acquire
Capsugel Capsugel is a company that manufactures and sells two-piece hard gelatin drug capsules. Note: two of the four authors of Chapter 28 were Capsugel employees. Also cited is "Summary and Implications (Chapter 34), by the editors of the book. Caps ...
for $5.5 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. In February 2017, KKR was reported to be trying to take over the international market research company ARI GfK SE. In July 2017, KKR acquired WebMD Health Corp for $2.8 billion and, the following month, it acquired
PharMerica PharMerica is a Fortune 1000 company formed in January 2007 from the merger of Kindred Healthcare's pharmacy business with a subsidiary of AmerisourceBergen. The company is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, and operates a major customer supp ...
for $1.4 billion including debt, Pepper Group for $518 million, Covenant Surgical Partners, and Envision Healthcare Corporations ambulance business for $2.4 billion. On July 6, 2017, KKR announced it would merge Northern California Mi Pueblo and Ontario-based Cardenas Market. On September 18, 2017, Toys "R" Us, Inc. filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
, stating the move would give it flexibility to deal with $5 billion in long-term debt, borrow $2 billion so it can pay suppliers for the upcoming holiday season and invest in improving current operations. In mid-July 2018, KKR purchased
RBMedia RBMedia is an audiobook publishing company with sales globally. It claims to be the largest audiobook publisher in the world. It was founded in 2017 through the acquisitions of independent audiobook companies. The companies, which now operate as ...
, one of the largest independent publishers and distributors of audiobooks. On July 22, 2018, KKR & Co. announced it is taking over Taipei-based LCY Chemical Corp. in a deal valued at NT$47.8 billion ($1.56 billion US), part of a plan for more transactions involving controlling stakes in the Greater China region. In July 2018, it was announced that KKR sold Gallagher Shopping Park, West Midlands in the UK to South Korean investors, Hana for £175 million. In February 2019, KKR acquired the German media company
Tele München Gruppe Leonine Holding GmbH, LLC, formerly Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a media company based in Munich. The activities of Leonine include trade in licenses, investments in television and radio stations and distributio ...
. Later that month, KKR acquired German film distributor Universum Film GmbH. In July 2019, KKR acquired the Canadian software company Corel. In August 2019, KKR acquired Arnott's, the Australian snack unit of
Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...
, for $2.2 billion. Later that month, KKR became the biggest shareholder of German media group Axel Springer, paying $3.2 billion for a 43.54% stake. In December 2019, KKR, together with Alberta Investment Management Corporation, acquired a 65% stake in the controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline project, from
TC Energy TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, a ...
. The pipeline route crosses the territory of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, which opposes the project. Enforcement of an injunction to build through the Wet'suwet'en territory has sparked widespread protests across Canada. In the final days of 2019, KKR announced it would acquire
OverDrive, Inc. OverDrive, Inc. is a digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, online magazines and streaming video titles. The company provides digital rights management and download fulfillment services for publishers, libraries, schools, corporations and b ...
, a major distributor of eBooks to libraries. The potential for consolidation with KKR subsidiary
RBMedia RBMedia is an audiobook publishing company with sales globally. It claims to be the largest audiobook publisher in the world. It was founded in 2017 through the acquisitions of independent audiobook companies. The companies, which now operate as ...
was quickly noted in the library and publishing industry; the acquisition was finalized in June 2020. In May 2020, KKR announced that it will be investing $750 million in cosmetics producer
Coty, Inc. Coty Inc. is an American-French multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and re ...
A separate plan was revealed in which several divisions of Coty are set to be spun out into a new company. According to the deal, KKR will own 60%, while Coty 40% of the new business. The same month, it was announced that KKR is set to make an investment into Indian digital company Jio Platforms. It was reported that KKR was negotiating to buy a $1.5bn stake of a maximum value reach of $65bn for Jio Platforms. In late June 2020, KKR announced it would lead a $48 million funding round for Artlist, a provider of royalty-free music, sound effects and video. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reported a profit of $16 billion in the Q2 for 2020. In August 2020, it was reported that KKR was preparing to sell its Epicor Software Corp. branch. On August 31, it was officially confirmed that a group primary represented by private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is set to buy the branch in a deal worth $4.7 billion. The acquisition was one of the largest purchases of 2020. In September 2020, KKR announced an investment of $755 million in the retail arm of India-based Reliance Industries Ltd. In November 2020, KKR teamed up with
Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicati ...
to acquire 85% of
Seiyu Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and a ...
, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned by Walmart. In January 2021, KKR acquired a majority stake in the catalogue of American musician Ryan Tedder, including his band
OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...
and the songs that he composed for other artists since 2016. In November 2021, KKR disposed of Audiobooks.com to streaming company Storytel for $135 million; later that same month, KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners announced they would acquire
CyrusOne CyrusOne owns and operates over 40 carrier-neutral data centers in North America, Europe, and South America, where it provides colocation and peering services. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is owned by funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis ...
for $15 billion. In February 2022, it was reported by Bloomberg that Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund had purchased just over a 5% stake in
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
and Nexon, reportedly worth $883 USD million, while KKR acquired 8.5% of Nexon, the Japanese-South Korean video game company. In April 2022, KKR announced the signing of an agreement to purchase Barracuda Networks from Thoma Bravo, which closed in August that year; later that same month, KKR announced it had acquired all shares of Mitsubishi UBS Realty, a Japanese real estate asset manager. In May 2022, Business Wire reported that KKR led about $200 million investment round in Semperis, a cybersecurity company focused on identity protection. Shortly after, Crunchbase listed Semperis as a privacy & security unicorn. Although the company's valuation has not been publicly confirmed, news outlets such as SecurityWeek, Enterprise Times, and SC Media concur this funding round puts Semperis in unicorn territory. In June 2022, it was announced that KKR would sell Cardenas to funds affiliated with
Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
for an undisclosed amount.


Partners

Over the years, many of KKR's original partners have departed, the most notable being co-founder Jerome Kohlberg. After a leave of absence due to illness in 1985, Kohlberg returned to find increasing differences in strategy with his partners, Kravis and Roberts. In 1987, Kohlberg left KKR to found a new private equity firm, Kohlberg & Company, which resumed the investment style that Kohlberg had practiced at Bear Stearns and in KKR's earlier years, acquiring smaller, middle-market companies. Since 1996, general partners of KKR have included Henry Kravis,
George R. Roberts George Rosenberg Roberts (born 1944) is an American financier. He is one of the three original partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which he co-founded alongside Jerome Kohlberg and first cousin Henry Kravis in 1976. Early life George Ro ...
, Paul Raether, Robert MacDonnell, Jose Gandarillas, Michael Michelson, Saul Fox, James H. Greene, Jr., Michael Tokarz, Clifton S. Robbins, Scott Stuart, Perry Golkin and Edward Gilhuly. Among those who left were Saul Fox,
Ted Ammon Robert Theodore Ammon (August 30, 1949 – October 20, 2001) was an American financier and investment banker. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was murdered in his home in 2001 by electrician Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in 2004. Ammon and ...
, Ned Gilhuly, Mike Tokarz and Scott Stuart who had been instrumental in establishing KKR's reputation and track record in the 1980s. KKR remains tightly controlled by Kravis and Roberts. The issue of succession has remained an important consideration for KKR's future. * Scott C. Nuttall (born 1972) formerly headed KKR's fastest-growing department, the Global Capital and Asset Management Group. He joined KKR in November 1996 after leaving the Blackstone Group. With the support of co-founder George Roberts, Nuttall spearheaded the campaign to transform KKR from a private equity firm into an investment firm after noting lost opportunities amounting to billions of dollars that the company had had to turn down. He also has served on the board of Fiserv (a financial services firm) since it acquired, for $22 billion, in 2019, the KKR-backed First Data Corp. Nuttall was named co-President and co-COO, with Joseph Bae, on July 17, 2017, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm, concentrating on KKR's corporate and real estate credit, capital markets, hedge fund and capital raising businesses together with the firm's corporate development, balance sheet, and strategic growth initiatives. '' The New York Times'' called Nuttall and Joseph Bae potential successors to the firm's founders. In 2021, he was promoted to co-CEO. He graduated, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree. * Joseph Bae (born 1972) joined KKR from
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
in 1996. Most recently, he was the managing partner of KKR Asia and the global head of KKR's Infrastructure and Energy Real Asset businesses. Mr. Bae has been the architect of KKR's Asian expansion since 2005. He has been named co-president and co-chief operating officer with Scott Nuttall on July 17, 2017, to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm. Bae focuses on KKR's global private equity businesses as well as the Firm's real asset platforms across energy, infrastructure, and real estate private equity. In 2021, he was promoted to co-CEO. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College. * Alexander Navab (1965 – 2019) joined KKR from
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
in 1993 and was the former head of Americas Private Equity. After spending 24 years at the firm, he stepped down as part of the Nuttall-Bae transition and would retire. In September 2017, he was elected to Columbia University's board of trustees. He was born in
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
, Iran, but followed his family and became a refugee in Greece following the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
. They immigrated to the United States two years later. He received a bachelor of arts degree from
Columbia College, Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...
, and an MBA degree from
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
. In 2016, he was honored with
Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born a ...
. He died in July 2019 at age 53. * Saul A. Fox left KKR in 1997 to found
Fox Paine & Company Fox Paine & Company is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. Fox Paine & Company, LLC was founded in 1996 by former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts partner Saul A. Fox. Former Kohlberg & Co. partner W. Dexter Paine III was bro ...
, a middle market private equity firm with over $1.5 billion of capital under management Anders, George
"Bitter End of a Partnership"
'' Wall Street Journal'', September 15, 2007.
* Clifton S. Robbins left KKR to join competitor
General Atlantic Partners General Atlantic (also known as "GA") is an American Growth capital, growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York City, New York, United States. The firm was founded in 1980 as t ...
in 2000 and later founded Blue Harbour Group, a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut.Barbarians at the Gate: Contrasting fortunes for those closest to the deal
eFinancial News, November 3, 2008; retrieved February 16, 2009.
* Edward A. Gilhuly and Scott Stuart left KKR in 2004 to launch
Sageview Capital Sageview Capital is an American investment firm that raised over $2.0 billion in capital across three investment vehicles. The firm provides capital to technology-enabled businesses. History The firm was founded by two former members of the Kohlb ...
. Prior to this, Gilhuly was the managing partner of KKR's London-based European operations. Stuart had managed KKR's energy and consumer products industry groups. *
Ted Ammon Robert Theodore Ammon (August 30, 1949 – October 20, 2001) was an American financier and investment banker. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was murdered in his home in 2001 by electrician Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in 2004. Ammon and ...
, started several new ventures including Big Flower Press, which printed newspaper circulars, and Chancery Lane Capital, a boutique private equity firm, before being murdered in his
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
home October 2001. The lover of his estranged, now deceased wife, Generosa, was later convicted. * Paul Hazen, served as chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo (1995–2001). Hazen later returned to KKR to serve as chairman of
Accel-KKR Accel-KKR is an American technology-focused private equity firm with over $14 billion in total assets under management. The firm invests primarily in middle-market software and technology-enabled services businesses, providing capital for buyo ...
, a joint venture with Accel Partners, and later as chairman of KKR's publicly listed affiliate, KFN. * Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, CEO of United News and Media (1996–2005) * Ken Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 as global head of public affairs. * David Petraeus, selected to serve as chairman of the newly formed KKR Global Institute (2013—present) * Joseph Grundfest, professor at Stanford Law School and youngest SEC Commissioner * Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia; commenced 1 June 2019.


Works about KKR

* * * *


Notes


References


FT.com / Industries / Basic industries – "KKR set to buy Masonite for C$3.1bn"
* Gross, Daniel & David Sterling.
Has Henry Kravis gone soft?
. ''Slate'', August 5, 2007; retrieved August 7, 2007.
The KKR Way
Bloomberg Markets, August 2007
"The barbarians at the gate have been losing their Midas touch"
timesonline.co.uk, August 6, 2005; retrieved February 16, 2009.


External links

* {{Authority control 1976 establishments in New York (state) 2010 initial public offerings American companies established in 1976 Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Financial services companies based in New York City Financial services companies established in 1976 Hedge fund firms in New York City Investment banks in the United States Investment companies based in New York City Mezzanine capital investment firms Private equity firms of the United States Publicly traded companies based in New York City Borden (company)