David Rubenstein, Private Equity Titan, Passes the Torch<br />Thanks to the traditional private equity business model — in which firms charge investors a lucrative management fee, regardless of performance,<br />and also take a large share of profits — companies like Carlyle are practically guaranteed to make money.<br />“Publicly traded private equity firms are undervalued by the market,” Mr. Rubenstein said.<br />“I don’t think that’s hurt the firm; that’s helped the firm.”<br />David Skorton, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, said<br />that Mr. Rubenstein, who serves on the Smithsonian’s board of regents, was uncommonly involved in his nonprofit work<br />It started with a series of meetings at the Carlyle Hotel in New York,<br />and grew to become one of the world’s most ambitious and well-connected private equity firms.<br />The Carlyle Group, which has headquarters in Washington, manages about $170 billion in assets<br />around the world, spread across private equity, real estate and other investment funds.<br />Privately held until 2012, Carlyle joined other private equity firms in offering shares to the public in the years after the financial crisis.
