Who is David Rubenstein?
"I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution." -Andrew Carnegie
Estimated to be worth $2.5 billion, Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein easily nabbed a spot on the 2007 Forbes Richest 400 Americans list. Last year, the former deputy domestic policy adviser in the Carter administration made an estimated $260 million, among the top earners on Wall Street and more than 3,000 times the metropolitan DC median income, where Carlyle is headquartered.ii While Mr. Rubenstein has accumulated obscene wealth -- once commenting that he's lost track of how much -- the majority of working families in this nation are being squeezed by a period of historic income inequality. According to a report released in early 2007 by two leading economists, the top 1 percent of Americans--those with incomes above $350,000--received the largest share of national income since 1928.ii |  List: Top 10 Reasons Why David Rubenstein Purchased the Magna Carta |
In many ways, the Carlyle Group is a microcosm of that profound income inequality; Rubenstein, other executives and investors have reaped huge financial rewards, yet how many of the 200,000 workers employed by David Rubenstein's portfolio companies has seen a benefit from his buyout deals? How many now have health insurance? How many have increased job security? Because of the shroud of secrecy surrounding private equity owned companies, it is difficult to know the answers to any of these questions. But we do know is that over 5,500 workers were laid off from Carlyle portfolio companies in 2007.
Rubenstein keeps racking up accolades among the rich, but Carlyle's business practices may be harming our communities by endangering public services, imperiling the environment, jeopardizing the health of vulnerable senior citizens and supporting human rights abuses abroad. None of these practices are to be applauded.
Other Carlyle Decision Makers:
William E. Conway: Prior to co-founding the Carlyle Group, he worked at MCI, where he became senior vice president and chief financial officer. According to the trade journal The Deal, "Conway green-lights or kills every one of Carlyle's prospective LBO and venture investments throughout the world."iii Like Rubenstein, his current net worth is estimated at more than $1 billion.iv In 1999, Conway purchased a 17,000-square-foot mansion built on a seven-acre expanse with a view of the Potomac River. In 2005, he sold the property for $24.5 million.v
Daniel A. D'Aniello: Prior to founding Carlyle, D'Aniello was a vice president at the Marriott Corp. Press accounts also indicate that D'Aniello runs most of the day-to-day operations of Carlyle. His current net worth is estimated at more than $1 billion.vi
Louis V. Gerstner Jr.: Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, was brought in as chairman in 2003 as part of an effort to shift Carlyle's reputation as "the CIA of the business world" and to help the company build an organization that will outlast its founders.vii According to D'Aniello, Gerstner is "one phone call away from every chief executive officer in the United States."viii In 2003, Forbes calculated Gerstner's net worth at $600 million. Gerstner's home in Greenwich, Conn., is valued at $12.2 million.
iiMedian income was $78,978. see "Income Soaring in 'Egghead Capital,'" Washington Post, September 2, 2007, N.C. Aizenman and Dan Keating , URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR2007090101234.html
iiEmmanuel Saez, UC Berkeley and Thomas Piketty of Paris School of Economics
iiiCarey, David, "Dollar Deployment." The Deal, October 31, 2003 http://www.thedeal.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=TheDeal/TDDArticle/TDStandardArticle&bn=NULL&c=TDDArticle&cid=1066080268129
ivEmily Thornton et al. "Carlyle Changes Its Stripes." 12 Feb 2007. Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_07/b4021001.htm
vJames K. Glassman. "Big Deals." June 2006. Washingtonian. http://carlyle.com/News/Fact%20Sheets/item9959.pdf
viEmily Thornton et al. "Carlyle Changes Its Stripes." 12 Feb 2007. Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_07/b4021001.htm
viiGreg Schneider, "Connections and Then Some; David Rubenstein has made millions pairing the powerful with the rich," The Washington Post, March 16, 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A25406-2003Mar14
viiip. 4, Glassman, "Big Deals," June 2006, Washingtonian; http://carlyle.com/News/Fact%20Sheets/item9959.pdf