David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, was the first person in his family to go to college. Born to blue-collar parents in Baltimore, Maryland, he didn't set out to be an investor. “I was always interested in politics,” Rubenstein tells Sanil Rajput, MBA ’26, in a conversation recorded live at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Though he got his JD from the University of Chicago, “I wasn't really interested in the law, and the law wasn't interested in me,” he says. A roundabout series of events resulted in a job advising Jimmy Carter; that role, in turn — and the abrupt end of it when Carter lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan in 1980 — would eventually lead him to private equity. “I struggled for a while to get a job,” Rubenstein recalls. “Because when you're out of power in Washington, you're a dead man.” After reading that a former Treasury secretary had turned $1 million into $80 million in 18 months on something called a leveraged buyout, Rubenstein co-founded Carlyle in 1987. “‘When you're getting kicked out of town, get out in front and pretend you're leading a parade,’” he says, quoting former Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen. “What does that mean? It means take advantage of the situation you find yourself in. If you're getting kicked out of town, say you're leading a parade. If you're in Washington, D.C., say you understand companies heavily affected by the federal government better than the guys in New York do.” Today, Carlyle manages several hundred billion dollars and has offices in more than 30 countries. Rubenstein has since become a prolific philanthropist, interviewer, and as of 2024, owner of the Baltimore Orioles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
