KKR lands former CIA chief
KKR said yesterday that it had hired David Petraeus, the former CIA director, to run a new unit for public policy, economic research and emerging-market due diligence.
KKR & Co said yesterday that it had hired David Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to run a new unit for public policy, economic research and emergingmarket due diligence at the private-equity firm.
KKR, run by billionaires Henry Kravis and George Roberts, will form an internal institute to study macroeconomic trends and government policies to assess their implications on the firm’s investments, the New York-based firm said yesterday.
Mr Petraeus will be chairman of the division, called KKR Global Institute, and help the company evaluate investment opportunities in new markets.
Mr Petraeus resigned from the CIA on November 9 after a probe by the Federal Bureau of Inves- tigation that uncovered evidence of an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell, the author of a biography about the retired fourstar general.
Mr Petraeus, who is also the former commander of US military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, will start as a visiting professor at the City University of New York on August 1.
“We are building on the work we have done to understand the investment implications of public policy, macroeconomic, regulatory and technology trends globally,” Mr Kravis said. KKR said it was responding in part to the increased role of central banks and new regulation following the financial crisis.
Mr Petraeus wouldwork with a team and also collaborate with Henry McVey, global head of macro and asset allocation, and Ken Mehlman, global head of public affairs and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, KKR said. Mr McVey regularly publishes what the firm calls thought pieces, and KKR said it planned to make the institute an outlet for articles by portfolio managers and others affiliated with the company.
KKR, founded in 1976 by Mr Kravis, Mr Roberts and their partner Jerome Kohlberg, works with at least 25 senior advisers, typically former CEOs or government insiders who help the firm find and evaluate investment opportunities. Mr Kohlberg left in 1987.
The firm last year named former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack as a senior adviser, Mr Kravis said at the time. Other KKR advisers include Honeywell International CEO David Cote, former Caterpillar CEO James Owens and Qantas Airways chairman Leigh Clifford. Bloomberg