William Conway the Younger. History of the formation of the Carlyle Group
The well-being of a fund or investment management company largely depends not on the personal qualities of the leader, his ability to manage investments, but primarily on the team and the ability to competently delegate powers to subordinates.
The most interesting thing is that many traders and managers are far in the shadows, bringing billions of dollars to the fund and investors, while a completely different person is basking in the glory.
William Conway can rightfully be called the eminence grise of the Carlyle Group, and in this article you will get acquainted not only with the biography of this unique manager.
But even with the biography of the Carlyle Group, which would not have gained a position in the world market if William Conway the Younger had not made significant adjustments to the investment portfolio.
If we talk about the early years, childhood and school age, biographers know practically nothing, since, being the eminence grise of the company, William Conway was not particularly talkative with journalists and practically did not mention anything about his early years in interviews.
However, it is known for certain that William Conway showed good mathematical abilities, and from childhood he saw himself as a banker and manager in a jacket and tie.
He received his Bachelor's degree in finance from Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1971.
The next step was to improve his qualifications and self-worth, so he entered the University of Chicago Booth Business School, where he managed to get the desired MBA business administration diploma.
Career ladder
Excellent recommendations from teachers and a good education gave the start to an equally phenomenal career for William Conway, since his first place of work was the National Bank of Chicago.
At his first job, he lasted not a lot, but a whole ten years, and at the very beginning of his journey he was far from managing money, since he was involved in problem credit debt, investing in projects and consulting bank clients.
Also, as he grew up the career ladder, he was involved in staff training.
William Conway's second place of work was MCI Communication, where he managed to stay for five years from 1981 to 1986.
It is worth noting that moving up the career ladder in the company happened an order of magnitude faster, so at the time of his dismissal, he left the position of vice president of the company, who had incredible connections.
Solo flight
The beginning of his independent investment activities came in 1987, after he was lured by Rubinstein and made a co-founder in the creation of the Carlyle Group company.
It is worth noting that in the first year of the company’s existence, they managed to attract about 5 million dollars thanks to their own connections, but the first year of work was, to put it mildly, a failure.
Having reconsidered his views on investing, William Conway actively began to alienate companies, stimulate management at the proper level, and then resell the company's shares.
At the same time, partner Rubinstein established a very trusting relationship with the Republican Party, attracting its main heavyweights to his company.
Such connections allowed it to reach a completely new level, as the company gained access to defense contracts with the military.
Unfortunately, flirting with the presidential administration and involving politicians played a cruel joke on the company. After Bush involved the United States in another war, the Carlyle Group faced a flurry of accusations of sponsoring the war.
Therefore, a major step was taken when a huge number of former Bush administration officials were fired in a matter of days.
However, even after the change of power, the company was able to establish new trusting relationships even with Obama, since at his request an oil refinery in Philadelphia was purchased, which saved 800 jobs.
Today, the Carlyle Group has about $156 billion under management, while its main think tank, William Conway, is worth an estimated $2.8 billion.