58 Quotes by Henry Kravis

I have, in my partner George Roberts, a person who is the most wonderful man in the world to me. He's like a brother to me. Creating with him, being side by side with him, in whatever we try to do, is a real pleasure to me.

In the '70s and '80s, what private equity did is it changed corporate America. It started holding companies accountable, and for the first time managers started thinking like owners.

Quite frankly, the financial community has to improve its image. The financial community has to be much more transparent than it is.

I love the ability to work with very good managers, and to provide the right incentives for them, and truly become a partner with that management, and make that management take a long view.

If we can just take a few companies, and use those as models, as examples, to show the rest of corporate America how they can become more competitive, that's what I'd like to do and that's what I hope to do.

It used to be that you would go in to see a CEO, and you would ask them, 'Is your company for sale?' and if they said 'No, we have no interest in selling,' that was sort of the end of the conversation.

Since we formed the firm in 1976, we've bought some 38 different companies, and we spent about $65 billion, buying these different companies.

My father wanted me to go into the oil business. He was in the oil and gas business as a consulting petroleum engineer up in Tulsa.

Maybe its because my father was so successful in a totally different field, but I found working in a small environment just a great joy.