If you have something at risk, you think differently. Henry Kravis More Quotes by Henry Kravis More Quotes From Henry Kravis But once you buy a company, you are married. You are married to that company. Henry Kravis company married One, I love the creativity. I love the ability to create a capital structure that is appropriate for a company, no matter what field it happens to be in. Henry Kravis creativity fields matter I thought at the time that I wanted to go into institutional sales, selling stocks and bonds to institutions. In those days, which was the 1960s, the institutional salesman was making about $100,000 a year. I thought that was just an enormous amount of money. Henry Kravis selling ties years I always like to refer managers in corporate America as the renters of the corporate assets, not the owners. Henry Kravis owners assets america If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. Henry Kravis ethical ifs integrity Going public is not a business plan. Henry Kravis business-plan plans The trouble, in my opinion, with corporate America today, is that everything is thought of in quarters. Henry Kravis opinion today america At KKR, we devote a great deal of time, attention and creativity trying to dissect, understand and anticipate change with the goal of achieving consistently strong returns for our investors. Henry Kravis Giving back is something that comes from the heart to me. It's not that I do it because it's the right thing: I do it because I want do it. Henry Kravis back me heart giving Look, don't congratulate us when we buy a company, congratulate us when we sell it. Because any fool can overpay and buy a company, as long as money will last to buy it. Henry Kravis look fool money long So I picked a field where I had a little exposure. Where I thought I could have an enormous challenge, and have a chance to really do some good, to be a pioneer in an area, and not just be like everyone else. Henry Kravis challenge thought good chance If we can just take a few companies, and use those as models, as examples, to show the rest of corporate America how they can become more competitive, that's what I'd like to do and that's what I hope to do. Henry Kravis rest like hope america It used to be that you would go in to see a CEO, and you would ask them, 'Is your company for sale?' and if they said 'No, we have no interest in selling,' that was sort of the end of the conversation. Henry Kravis end go you conversation In the '70s and '80s, what private equity did is it changed corporate America. It started holding companies accountable, and for the first time managers started thinking like owners. Henry Kravis first-time time america thinking Quite frankly, the financial community has to improve its image. The financial community has to be much more transparent than it is. Henry Kravis image more financial community
