George Roberts
George Roberts is a private equity titan best known as the Co-Founder of KKR, a leading global investment firm that manages investments across multiple asset classes. He also serves as KKR's Co-Executive Chairman, actively involved in managing the firm and serves on regional Private Equity Investment and Portfolio Management Committees. Roberts has more than four decades of experience financing, analyzing, and investing in public and private companies. Prior to founding KKR, he was part of the corporate finance department of Bear Stearns, where he became a partner at the young age of 29. He has also been the director of several public and private corporations as well as cultural and educational institutions. Roberts is also a dedicated philanthropist and supporter of the arts.
George Roberts Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman
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Partner
Academic History
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Juris Doctor
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Bachelor of Arts
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Advisory Council Member, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Board Member, San Francisco Symphony
Board Member, San Francisco Ballet
Roberts co-founded KKR with Henry Kravis and Jerome Kohlberg.
The firm completed a series of notable transactions, including the $25 billion leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The deal was the largest leveraged buyout at the time and was documented in the book "Barbarians at the Gate."
Under their leadership, KKR has acquired more than 250 portfolio companies and more than $600 billion in assets under management, making it one of the five largest private equity firms in the world.
The duo of Roberts and Kravis took KKR public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2010 and converted it into a corporation in 2018.
Co-CEOs Henry Kravis and George Roberts stepped down in 2021. They both serve as executive co-chairs for the firm.
PHILANTHROPY
Roberts is the Founder and Chairman of Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, which focuses on job creation for people facing significant barriers to work.
He has also supported construction of two academic buildings at Claremont McKenna College— Roberts North and Roberts South, which house classrooms and faculty offices — as well as the founding of the Roberts Environmental Center.
MEDIA & APPEARANCES
Roberts has been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Insider, and more.