By Evan Vitale
Private equity has created many billionaires over the years, but it seems there are a few firms that do it better than others. Forbes creates its Richest Americans list each year and their latest one features many private equity executives who have made their money with leveraged buyouts. It seems last year was a really good year for private equity, which is stated by Business Insider as “the strongest since the financial crisis.” According to research firm Prequin, private equity and venture capital assets reached a new high of $3.8 trillion under management. Here are a few of the top private equity firms that have the most billionaires associated with the firm:
Apollo Global Management
This private equity firm has a few billionaires on the Forbes list, including co-founder Leon Black. He came in at #94 on the list and is worth about $5 billion. As a Wall Street legend, he’s also a well-known figure in the art market, with his most notable purchase Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”
Another Apollo Group billionaire is co-found Joshua Harris, who owns two professional sports franchises – owning the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils. He came out at #268 on the Forbes list. The firm’s Marc Rowan comes in at #279 and has about $2.4 billion behind him. He put his money in his own family office thanks to his stock in the equity firm.
Carlyle Group
The other major company that churns out billionaires is the Carlyle Group and their co-founder David Rubenstein is ranked #256 on Forbes’ list. The company went public back in 2012 and started out big taking on investments out of the public eye, unlike other companies like the Apollo Group.
Another Carlyle Group billionaire is Dan D’Aniello, who is one of the three billionaires it’s created since it was first founded in 1987. He’s also at #256, along with the third co-founder of the company William “Bill” Conway.
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Evan Vitale writes and publishes another business blog at http://evanvitale.com.