With the Department of Justice examining syndicated leveraged buyouts or club deals, it seems as if private equity firms have something new in common with organized crime. This is the premise that must have spurred Going Private to assemble a flow chart of dealmakers in the roles of mafia bosses.
Of course here at Dealscape, we have to disagree with her choice of Louis Gerstner as the top boss and Henry Kravis as the underboss. The title of godfather is best played by Kravis. After all, his firm, KKR, put private equity on the map with its RJR buyout more than 20 years ago. Sure Gerstner was involved in the deal, but he's spent most of his career as an executive, not a dedicated dealmaker therefore he would be better as the consigliere. With that in mind, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman should be the underboss. Of course, the other choices are brilliant.
Going Private's ingenuity prompted us to think of rival families. After all, aside from Gerstner's Carlyle affiliation, everyone in Going Private's family is from a New York firm. Consequently, we thought of a few regional dons and underbosses to add to the list. Carlyle's David Rubenstein would lead a Washington family; Willis Stein & Partner's Avy Stein would lead a Chicago family and his crew would include GTCR's Bruce Rauner; Hellman Friedman's Warren Hellman would lead a San Francisco family and his crew would include the Gore Brothers. Come to think of it, the possibilities are endless.—Matthew Wurtzel and Kelly Holman
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