Wall Street veteran steps in to lead a private equity firm that has seen its competitors outperform it in recent years
After Kewsong Lee’s abrupt resignation in August, Carlyle Group is thrilled to announce that they have appointed Harvey Schwartz, a former Goldman Sachs executive, as the new Chief Executive of their private equity group. This hire culminates their search for an appropriate leader to bring the organization into its next chapter.
After two decades in service with Goldman Sachs, Schwartz left the Wall Street banking giant and has now accepted an offer for Carlyle’s top job. Sources briefed on this issue confirmed that a vote by the board was conducted Sunday to solidify his appointment, which will be announced Monday morning.
Last week The Financial Times reported these negotiations taking place; however, when contacted regarding their comment, Carlyle and Schwartz remained silent.
Schwartz has been appointed to lead one of the world’s premier private equity groups, with a total asset value of $369bn. Its progress and stock share values have trailed behind competitors such as Blackstone Group and KKR in recent years; nevertheless, Schwartz is eager to revive it back into its potent state.
After missing out on the chance to fill Lloyd Blankfein’s place as CEO of Goldman, Schwartz chose to part ways with Goldman five years ago. He had previously held many pivotal roles at Goldman including the chief financial officer, co-president, and COO alongside David Solomon, in addition to being a co-head of the securities division.
After a careful search for the ideal candidate, Carlyle eventually opted to appoint an internal contender. Discussions were conducted with notable financial executives outside of their organization before settling on the best fit.
The search committee of the group had consulted Goldman’s president John Waldron, Jonathan Pruzan – former Morgan Stanley chief operating officer, and Citigroup finance head Mark Mason for opinions, as briefed by people familiar with the scouting process.
Of the many internal candidates, Carlyle’s chief investment officer of its private equity unit, Peter Clare and Mark Jenkins who leads in credit investments were two of the top contenders.
Brian McKenna, an analyst at JMP Group said, “We believe the absence of a CEO has been an overhang on the stock, so a new CEO, particularly of the calibre of Mr Schwartz, would be positive for shares.”
Schwartz has the responsibility of solidifying Carlyle’s footing during a time of leadership vacillation and establishing a strategy as we enter an era in which the gentle economic climate for private equity firms that were enjoyed over the past decade, is replaced by more testing conditions.
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