David Petraeus' road to redemption has reached its gilded destination. As we first reported in April
How exactly does experience designing failed counter-insurgencies translate to an expertise in high finance? "As the world changes and we expand how and where we invest, we are always looking to sharpen the ‘KKR edge,’” cofounder and co-CEO Henry Kravis said of his new hire.
Petraeus will sharpen edges as chairman of the newly-formed KKR Global Institute, where his team will include Ken Mehlman, the former Bush campaign manager and onetime chairman of the Republican National Committee, who has been with KKR since 2008.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
The KKR Global Institute, as the private-equity firm has dubbed it, will bring together Mr. Petraeus and others at the firm to formalize discussions over macroeconomic and geopolitical forces that could influence KKR's investment decisions. These issues include the heightened role of central banks following the financial crisis, and what KKR views as "revolutions" in energy, manufacturing and technology, among other areas.
But Petraeus will also help the firm with its domestic schemes as well:
He pointed to KKR's decision to develop housing in North Dakota to address an influx of oil-industry workers as the kind of opportunity he wants to help the firm seize.
Silicon Valley venture capital firms have recruited former politicos like Larry Summers, Al Gore, and Colin Powell, but private equity still seems like the most popular exit for Washington D.C's revolving door.
Former Vice President Dan Quayle and former Treasury Secretary John Snow work for Cerberus Capital Management LP. Former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker III have done work for Washington-based buyout firm Carlyle GroupCG +0.42% LP. A handful of officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations have or currently serve as Carlyle advisers.
See, kids, public service really does pay.
[Image via Getty]
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