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 More Quotes by Henry Kravis More Quotes From Henry Kravis If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. Henry Kravis money integrity world As I said there is nothing wrong with failing. Pick yourself up and try it again. You never are going to know how good you really are until you go out and face failure. Henry Kravis failure faces trying A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them. Henry Kravis success inspiring inspirational If you build that foundation, both the moral and the ethical foundation, as well as the business foundation, and the experience foundation, then the building won't crumble. Henry Kravis foundation moral integrity If you have something at risk, you think differently. Henry Kravis risk ifs thinking To understand KKR, I always like to say, don't congratulate us when we buy a company. Any fool can buy a company. Congratulate us when we sell it and when we've done something with it and created real value. Henry Kravis buying done real Whales who come up and spout off get harpooned. Henry Kravis whales come-up I've been in a hurry all my life. I've been in a hurry to succeed, and in a hurry to prove myself. Henry Kravis prove-myself succeed prove We've got a portfolio of companies that range all the way from hotels to television stations and cable TV companies, oil and gas, consumer products, and industrial products. If there's anything that I want to know more about, I have the opportunity. It's right in our portfolio. I can spend time at the factory or with the manangement and learn as much as I want. You can't get bored doing that. Henry Kravis oil bored opportunity It's one of the most important things at the end of the day, being able to say no to an investment. Henry Kravis investing the-end-of-the-day important I want people who will stand up to me. People who are not afraid to say exactly what's on their minds, even though that's probably not what I want to hear. That's what I want. Henry Kravis mind want people I love the ability to work with very good managers, and to provide the right incentives for them, and truly become a partner with that management, and make that management take a long view. Henry Kravis incentives views long A real entrepreneurs who do not need protection nets underneath Henry Kravis entrepreneur real needs You only have one thing to sell in life, and that's yourself. Henry Kravis sells one-thing It's not just buying the company. Sure, we picked the right companies, and we picked the right management and, most importantly, we've given them the right incentive to perform. Henry Kravis incentives buying management Our industry expertise (at KKR) enables the firm not only to make better investment choices but also to win the confidence of senior management and sellers, which has enabled us to purchase many companies on an exclusive basis. Henry Kravis senior choices winning Any fool can buy a company; just pay enough Henry Kravis fool enough pay And make sure that capital structure we have in place is the right capital structure. I think that's the reason that we've been successful. Henry Kravis successful reason thinking I have, in my partner George Roberts, a person who is the most wonderful man in the world to me. He's like a brother to me. Creating with him, being side by side with him, in whatever we try to do, is a real pleasure to me. Henry Kravis real brother men I was an economics major in college, and every summer after school, I would drive my car from California, from Claremont men's college at the time, to New York. And I worked on Wall Street. Henry Kravis wall new-york summer
