George R Roberts

Co-founder of buyout firm KKR circumventing stymied public offering. In July KKR announced plans to go public in U.S. via merger with European affiliate; when complete, company could be worth as much as $15 billion. Firm manages $60 billion. Annual gross returns: 26.1%. Created firm 1976. Used junk bonds to buy underperforming companies, streamline operations, flip for profit. Most famous for $25 billion buyout of RJR Nabisco 1989. The son of a Houston oil broker, George Roberts became a partner at Bear Stearns at age 29 after graduating from Claremont McKenna in suburban Los Angeles and attending UC Hastings College of Law. In 1976, he, his cousin Henry Kravis, and Bear Stearns mentor Jerome Kohlberg broke out on their own to found Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR). Today, KKR manages around $100 billion in assets. Roberts founded the Roberts Foundation in 1985, and now runs the foundation with his second wife, Linnea, and his children.