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Most of what I learnt about how to do business I learnt from Shakespeare, not Harvard Business School.
—Leon BlackThere are old investors, and there are bold investors, but there are no old bold investors.
—Howard MarksIt’s one of the most important things at the end of the day, being able to say no to an investment.
—Henry KravisThere are no patents in finance.
—Stephen A SchwarzmanWhat I want to do is see things for what they are, not how other people see them.
—Wesley R EdensPeople used to think that private equity was basically just a compensation scheme, but it is much more about making companies more efficient.
—David RubensteinNobody in my generation ever started out in private equity. We got there by accident.
—David BondermanThe big banks’ pain is private equity’s gain.
—Joshua HarrisThe assets you want to buy are the ones people have to sell.
—William E Conway JrTheir new label became “private equity”, a name that turns the facts upside-down: A purchase of a business by these firms almost invariably results in dramatic reductions in the equity portion of the acquiree’s capital structure compared to that previously existing.
—Warren BuffettNot all private equity people are evil. Only some.
—Paul KrugmanThe role of private equity as fiduciaries is certainly to make money.
—Thomas G StembergHint: Money flows into most funds after good performance, and goes out when bad performance follows.
—John Bogle
(This story appears in the 02 August, 2019 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)