Crony David Rubenstein on His Life

FT has lunch with David Rubenstein, where he talks about his success in private equity (He's a billionaire) and about the money he is giving away. What he doesn't talk too much about is that his success is largely the result of astute use of his crony connections, including with George Bush Sr, former secretary of state James Baker, former US defence secretary Frank Carlucci and former British prime minister John Major.

The interview also doesn't mention that Rubenstein somehow managed to get so close to Bush that at the 60th anniversary party for George Senior that Rubenstein was the one who gave the toast.

You don't see the high profile names associated with Rubenstein's firm, Carlyle, much anymore, but I suspect they are still behind the scenes, just not visible. Indeed, FT writes:

Washington is still a big part of the DNA of Carlyle, though the political face it once showed the world [...] is far less visible today than in the past. “I thought such figures diminished the perception of us as serious investors,” Rubenstein explains. “Somehow it made us seem tainted. I wanted to make it clear that we were cleaner than Caesar’s wife.”

Read the full FT report here.