Post: #1

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/deep-thoug...naire.html


He said he no longer wanted to be weighed down by physical possessions. He did the same with his Art Deco house on a private island near Miami. From that point on he would be homeless.

Now he keeps what little he owns in storage and travels light, carrying just his iPhone, a few pairs of jeans, a fancy suit or two, and some white monogrammed shirts he wears until they are threadbare. At 51, the diminutive Berggruen is weathered, but still youthful, with unkempt brown hair and stubble. There’s something else he hung on to: his Gulfstream IV. It takes him to cities where he stays in five-star hotels. In London, he checks into Claridge’s. In New York, he’s at the Carlyle Hotel. In Los Angeles, he takes a suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Post: #2

Quote:Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up.

I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Post: #3

I know some PE guys, well mostly just hear about them through friends of mine that have just broken into or are working on breaking into that business. These guys ROUTINELY have made $10-$30 million by age 40. They are on the fast track and reach the point of investing their own capital into PE investments as well as earning carried interest or "carry" - an additional profit beyond returns earned on their investment as a result of performance. It's quite an exponential process.

Post: #4

(10-03-2012 08:27 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Quote:Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up.

I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Agreed. Where to start?

Post: #5

Cheap and tacky article and philosophy. Everyone would do that if they could. I'd be an adventuring, luxury-plane flying swashbuckler too if I had the money in the bank. This is like American Beauty, where the husband quits his boring office job simply because he wants to "rediscover himself" and still comes back to this house:

Post: #6

(10-03-2012 08:42 AM)Rosca Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:27 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Quote:Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up.

I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Agreed. Where to start?

PE is pretty elite/elitist. Think investment banking is hard to break into? Try PE. Mostly Ivy League guys with spotless resumes and top 5 MBAs.

Post: #7

(10-03-2012 08:46 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:42 AM)Rosca Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:27 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Quote:Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up.

I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Agreed. Where to start?

PE is pretty elite/elitist. Think investment banking is hard to break into? Try PE. Mostly Ivy League guys with spotless resumes and top 5 MBAs.

Yeah, after a few years they recruit the best and brightest Investment Bankers into PE. The other option is IB, then get an MBA then do PE. Losing your 20's and 30's to the crazy hours isn't worth it though.

Post: #8

(10-03-2012 08:52 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:46 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:42 AM)Rosca Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:27 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Quote:Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up.

I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Agreed. Where to start?

PE is pretty elite/elitist. Think investment banking is hard to break into? Try PE. Mostly Ivy League guys with spotless resumes and top 5 MBAs.

Yeah, after a few years they recruit the best and brightest Investment Bankers into PE. The other option is IB, then get an MBA then do PE. Losing your 20's and 30's to the crazy hours isn't worth it though.

It's not always "throwing away your 20's". Actually my friend already works in PE now, is applying to top 3 MBA programs, and has an IB history. Also graduated cumma sum laude from a pretty decent state school's undergrad finance program. He parties all the time and works less than me. He's just extremely driven and works "smart". One of those makes-it-look-easy types.

Post: #9

(10-03-2012 08:58 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:52 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:46 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:42 AM)Rosca Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:27 AM)P Dog Wrote:  I need to get in on this Private Equity racket.

Agreed. Where to start?

PE is pretty elite/elitist. Think investment banking is hard to break into? Try PE. Mostly Ivy League guys with spotless resumes and top 5 MBAs.

Yeah, after a few years they recruit the best and brightest Investment Bankers into PE. The other option is IB, then get an MBA then do PE. Losing your 20's and 30's to the crazy hours isn't worth it though.

It's not always "throwing away your 20's". Actually my friend already works in PE now, is applying to top 3 MBA programs, and has an IB history. Also graduated cumma sum laude from a pretty decent state school's undergrad finance program. He parties all the time and works less than me. He's just extremely driven and works "smart". One of those makes-it-look-easy types.

Any idea how many hours he works a week?

Post: #10

(10-03-2012 08:59 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:58 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:52 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:46 AM)presidentcarter Wrote:  

(10-03-2012 08:42 AM)Rosca Wrote:  Agreed. Where to start?

PE is pretty elite/elitist. Think investment banking is hard to break into? Try PE. Mostly Ivy League guys with spotless resumes and top 5 MBAs.

Yeah, after a few years they recruit the best and brightest Investment Bankers into PE. The other option is IB, then get an MBA then do PE. Losing your 20's and 30's to the crazy hours isn't worth it though.

It's not always "throwing away your 20's". Actually my friend already works in PE now, is applying to top 3 MBA programs, and has an IB history. Also graduated cumma sum laude from a pretty decent state school's undergrad finance program. He parties all the time and works less than me. He's just extremely driven and works "smart". One of those makes-it-look-easy types.

Any idea how many hours he works a week?

I actually live with him right now so I can say definitively...he's putting in around 50 - very light for this industry.

Post: #11

(10-03-2012 08:44 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Cheap and tacky article and philosophy. Everyone would do that if they could. I'd be an adventuring, luxury-plane flying swashbuckler too if I had the money in the bank. This is like American Beauty, where the husband quits his boring office job simply because he wants to "rediscover himself" and still comes back to this house:

Agreed, i don't to read the article to know these are pretty much bogus philosophies. Keeping a jetstream and trying to "Skywalker" around the world doesn't fly with me.

Post: #12

speak for yourself on wanting to be like this guy.

here's a quote about this guy, aka, captain obvious:

"He believes developed countries are in crisis because their leaders are too focused on getting reelected."

Post: #13

After the first line I didn't want to be like this guy.

I don't really agree with the minimalist lifestyle.

Post: #14

P dog, private equity has limited cash now unless you're talking top top firms. You need connections to get in and the payout days are over. You're exit and entrance multiple is being compressed.

You buy out at 5-10x ebitda or whatever in 09 and then you exit at 4-8x due to shitty multiple compression. The recent wave is allowing some people to exit but you're not going to see flow from that without equity in the deal (as an individual) as well a 20% carry or so.

If you break into the top sure you're set for life, but going mid-shit cap private equity gets paid less than the sell side. The buy side in equities a hedge fund for example will always be profitable assuming you can get good returns. Unlike PE where you're effectively saying you're smarter than the CEO's and can flip it (also hoping for the same multiple or better) a fund can do more eg: long-short equities fund.

Overall, unless you've got a prestige background meaning connections up the ass, PE is not the best move. Finally you end up like that dude in the article, too old to really get game and enjoy life, 5 star hotels are the worst if you've ever stayed at them, bunch of douchebags and up-tight assholes. Positively, PE is a great résumé polisher, you do it for 2 years and right when they send you to get an "MBA" go back to the sell side to be a junior VP. Gotta keep hustlin.

The consensus info on this forum on the street life is wrong and bad.

Ps: An MBA won't get you into PE or even IB most of the time, also you won't be worth $10M or $20 of you make it to 40. If you're coming from no connex you'd be worth $1.5M or so (liquid)

Post: #15

WestCoast, you certainly know what you are talking about, but some IB & PE shops in midmarket are doing really well. They are mostly boutiques tho.

At the same time, I've came across several mid/small cap funds that totally suck ass. Their execs started at BBs due to background / connections but got kicked out since they were little more than entitled douchebags. They simply went on to start their own funds because they had money and attempting to run for prestige.

Also, the yields in the public markets are low as well, and the spreads are shrinking. Einhorn & Ackman will still be on top because they are good, but unqualified boomers will drop out.

We are riding the startup IT & education bubbles now, methinks.