George Roberts

George R. Roberts was born in 1943. After graduating from Claremont McKenna College in 1966 and earning his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1969, Roberts began his career at Bear Stearns. There, he worked in the corporate finance department alongside Jerome Kohlberg Jr. and his cousin Henry Kravis. Together, this trio developed a novel approach to corporate acquisitions, using significant debt to finance takeovers – a strategy that would become known as the leveraged buyout. In 1976, Kohlberg, Kravis, and Roberts departed Bear Stearns to form their own firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). KKR quickly established itself as a leader in the nascent private equity industry. Roberts, based in Menlo Park, California, focused on KKR's western region operations, while Kravis managed the East Coast. Jerome Kohlberg, however, eventually left the firm in 1987 due to disagreements over the increasingly aggressive nature of KKR's deals. Roberts played a pivotal role in many of KKR's most significant transactions, including the 1988 acquisition of RJR Nabisco for $25 billion, which at the time was the largest leveraged buyout in history. This deal, famously chronicled in the book 'Barbarians at the Gate,' underscored KKR's audacious approach and ability to execute complex, high-stakes transactions. Beyond financial engineering, Roberts emphasized operational improvements, often installing new management teams and implementing strategic changes to unlock value in acquired companies. Throughout his career, Roberts has also been a prominent philanthropist, committing significant resources to education, healthcare, and community development. He established the Roberts Foundation focusing on poverty and homelessness, and has been a substantial donor to institutions like Claremont McKenna College and his alma mater's law school. He transitioned from Co-CEO to Co-Executive Chairman of KKR in 2017, continuing to provide strategic oversight.