After nearly half a century in charge, the founders of private equity giant KKR, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, have stepped down as co-CEOs and handed the reins over to Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall.
Cousins Kravis and Roberts, who founded KKR (formerly Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co) with Jerome Kohlberg in 1976, are considered to be among the founding fathers of the asset class. The pair were pioneers of the leveraged buyout model, rising to fame with the $25 billion hostile takeover of food tobacco conglomerate RJR Nabisco in 1988 which was immortalized in the book “Barbarians at the Gate.”
The handover is the culmination of a succession plan that started in 2017, when Bae and Nuttall, who have been with the firm since 1996, both became co-presidents and COOs. Bae had overseen KKR’s expansion into Asia, and Nuttall, who was the architect of the company’s public listing in 2010, led the creation of its capital markets business.
Today, KKR is one of the largest PE firms worldwide, with $429 billion in assets under management as of June 30 and over 40 funds raised in its lifetime. This year alone has seen the firm complete major deals including the $4.47 billion buyout of Atlantic Aviation and the acquisition of infrastructure investor John Laing for £2 billion (about $2.7 billion).
The change in leadership also brings changes in structural and corporate governance. KKR will eliminate its dual-class share structure and move to a one-vote-per-share model on all matters, following in the footsteps of peers including The Carlyle Group and Apollo Global Management.
