Kewsong Lee
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Kewsong Lee | |
|---|---|
| 칼라일 | |
| Born | Kewsong Lee August 12, 1965 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB) Harvard Business School (MBA) |
| Title | CEO of The Carlyle Group |
| Spouse |
Zita Ezpeleta (m. 1992) |
Kewsong Lee (Korean: 칼라일); born August 12, 1965) is a Korean-american businessman who currently serves as the chief executive officer of private equity firm The Carlyle Group.
Early life and education
Lee was born in Albany, New York on August 12, 1965.[1][2][3] His father, Lee Hak-jong was a professor at Yonsei University.[1][2]
Due to his father's role as a college professor and involvement in the United Nations, Lee would spend his early years in South Korea and Singapore.[1] He then attended boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut where he graduated in 1982.[1][3][4]
Lee attended Harvard College where he received an A.B. in Applied Mathematics in Economics, graduating in 1986.[1][2] He would later return to Harvard where he received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990.[1][2]
Career
Lee's first job after graduation from Harvard was at consulting firm, McKinsey & Company.[1][5] He spent two years there before leaving in 1988 to attend Harvard Business School.[1][5]
Lee did a Summer Internship at Goldman Sachs in 1989 but ultimately decided to return to McKinsey & Company in 1990 after graduating from Harvard Business School.[1][5]
In 1992, Lee joined private equity firm, Warburg Pincus.[1][5] He would spend 21 years at the firm where he became a Partner as well as a member of the Executive Management Group.[6][3] While at Warburg, Lee was involved in transactions that included companies such as Neiman Marcus, Aramark, TransDigm and MBIA.[3][7]
The Carlyle Group
In 2013, Lee joined the The Carlyle Group as Deputy Chief Investment Officer for corporate private equity.[2][3][7] In 2016, Lee also assumed the role of leading the Global Credit Unit.
In October 2017, the firm announced that its founders would remain executive chairmen on the board of directors but would step down as the day-to-day leaders of the firm. They named Lee and Glenn Youngkin to succeed them as co-CEOs, effective January 1, 2018.[8] As co-CEOs, Lee oversaw the firm's corporate private equity and global credit businesses and Youngkin oversaw Carlyle's real estate, energy, infrastructure businesses, and investment solutions businesses.[9][10] Lee and Youngkin also joined the firm's board of directors when they became co-CEOs.[11]
During Lee and Youngkin's tenure as co-CEOs, they oversaw the firm's transition from a publicly traded partnership into a corporation.[12]
There was an alleged power struggle between Lee and Youngkin during their time together at Carlyle where Lee eventually won out. This was mainly due to Lee managing to take control of the corporate private equity and global credit units which were bigger and more profitable than the others.[13][14]
In July 2020, Youngkin stepped down from his role at Carlyle making Lee the sole CEO of the firm.[13]
Personal life
Lee is married to Zita Ezpeleta and they have two children.[6] Lee and Ezpeleta met in Lowell House at Harvard College when they were undergraduates.[15] Ezpeleta is an attorney who previously practiced at Sidley Austin.
From 2009 to 2017, Lee served as a Lead Director at Arch Capital Group as well as a board member for other firms such as Transdigm and Aramark.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Meikle, Brad (April 23, 2001). "Warburg Pincus's Kewsong Lee Sticks it Out in Private Equity -". Buyouts. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Korean Americans break 'bamboo ceilings' at top PEFs". The Korea Times. August 6, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Dezember, Ryan (November 4, 2013). "Buyout Executive Jumps from Warburg Pincus to Carlyle". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ "Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin | Spring '18 by Choate Rosemary Hall". Retrieved November 12, 2021 – via Issuu.
- ^ a b c d Kelly, Jason (June 4, 2018). "Meet Private Equity's Next Generation". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c "Kewsong Lee Joins CSIS Board of Trustees". csis.org. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Carlyle Group names Kewsong Lee deputy chief investment officer". Reuters. November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ Gottfried, Miriam (October 27, 2017). "Carlyle's Next Generation: A Deal Whiz and a Homegrown Quarterback". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ Bray, Chad (October 26, 2017). "Private equity Carlyle Group names Kewsong Lee, Glenn Youngkin as new leaders". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ Espinoza, Javier; Massoudi, Arash (October 25, 2017). "Carlyle names executives to succeed its co-founders". Financial Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ Banerjee, Devin (October 25, 2017). "Carlyle's Billionaire Founders Hand Reins to New Leaders". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ Gottfried, Miriam (July 31, 2019). "Carlyle to Abandon Partnership Structure and Dual-Class Shares". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ a b Gara, Antoine; Fedor, Lauren (October 31, 2021). "Glenn Youngkin: the private equity multi-millionaire aiming to run Virginia". Financial Times. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ "Youngkin Racked Up Bad Bets as Carlyle Boss Before Move to Politics". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
- ^ "Lowell Dining Hall Name Change Draws Little Notice From Students". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 12, 2021.