Carlyle Chooses Its Future Leaders as Founders Prepare to Step Back
The Carlyle Group named three executives to leadership roles on Wednesday as the co-founders of one of the world’s biggest private equity firms prepared to step back from day-to-day operations.
The announcement came just months after Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, another private equity giant, publicly outlined its own succession plan, a rarity in the industry.
Kewsong Lee and Glenn A. Youngkin will become co-chief executives at the Carlyle Group and Peter J. Clare was named the firm’s co-chief investment officer, with all three men joining the board of directors.
They will take on the new roles on Jan. 1, with Mr. Lee and Mr. Youngkin having “full responsibility, authority and accountability for the firm’s performance,” the company said.
“These promotions ensure continuity in our leadership and maintain the investment processes that have driven our success for 30 years,” Carlyle’s co-founders, William E. Conway Jr., Daniel A. D’Aniello and David M. Rubenstein, said in a news release. “Kewsong and Glenn are proven leaders who have strong records of accomplishment at Carlyle,” they added.
After the promotions, Mr. D’Aniello, who is currently Carlyle’s chairman, will become chairman emeritus. He will continue to serve on the firm’s board.
Mr. Conway and Mr. Rubenstein, who currently serve as co-chief executives, will become co-executive chairmen of the company.
“As founders, we are passionate about Carlyle,” the statement said. “We will continue to be actively engaged at Carlyle. We are fully committed to and confident in the firm’s future and will continue to be substantial investors in Carlyle funds for years to come.”
Mr. Youngkin, 50, is president and chief operating officer and has been with the firm for 23 years. He has served in a variety of leadership and investment roles at the company, including interim chief financial officer and global head of the industrial sector investment team. Before joining Carlyle, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and worked in the investment banking group at CS First Boston.
Mr. Lee, 52, has been with the firm since 2013. He previously worked for 21 years at Warburg Pincus, where he led the company’s consumer, industrial and services group.
Mr. Lee will focus on Carlyle’s corporate private equity and global credit businesses, while Mr. Youngkin will oversee Carlyle’s real estate, energy and infrastructure businesses, as well as its investment solutions segment.
Founded in 1987, Carlyle has about $162 billion in assets under management. The company employees 1,550 people in 31 offices worldwide.