George Roberts Quotes
16 quotes from George Roberts — Co-founder of KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), one of the world's largest private equity firms..
“I think to be a good investor, you have to have enough imagination to realize… what does the future look [like]?… That's number one. Number two: I think you have to develop a sense of people.”
“It's individuals that make the difference in a good investment or a bad one, at least in my experience, and getting that right and being able to relate to people or make some judgments on people are far more important than all the financial analysis that young people do today.”
“You have to have enough imagination to realize where the puck might be going, not to where it is or where it's been.”
“You make an investment in a company, and you let management own part of that business where they didn't own it before. And all of a sudden, the business did better.”
“Today you need far more skills than what we had in 1976. You need to be able to not only do the analysis right, but you really need to be able to figure a way, before you make an investment, how are you going to create value.”
“It's not what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”
“Our business is really making investments in companies and making them better.”
“If you own a house you take better care of it than when you rent it. It's not real complicated.”
“I've always found that the way to reduce stress in your life is to focus on things you can control.”
“You have to have vision, moral courage and you have to have the people who you want to follow you believe that you care more about their success than you do your own. If you get those three things right, then you're going to do well.”
“Companies perform better when all important parties — management, employees and directors — have the incentive of ownership in the business. You take better care of a home you own than one you rent.”
“These firms that were once castigated for being brash 'Barbarians at the Gate' are now staid asset managers selling a variety of financial products and services.”
“If you can't do the simple jobs right, you'll never be trusted with the harder ones.”
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
“My partners and I have been proud to see many of the practices we have instituted over the years duplicated at major companies throughout America.”
“The world is going to continue to globalize. It's going to get 'flatter.' Technology is going to accelerate and there's going to be more competition. But there are opportunities out there for you and you all have the benefit of graduating from one of the best schools in the world. You are ready to compete with the rest, but you must be willing to embrace change and have an entrepreneurial spirit.”
