David Rubenstein
David Rubenstein
David Mark Rubensteinis an American financier and philanthropist best known as co-founder and co-chief executive officer of The Carlyle Group, a global private equity investment company based in Washington D.C. He is also currently serving as chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of the board of trustees at Duke University, his alma mater. According to the Forbes ranking of the wealthiest people in America, Rubenstein has a net worth of $2.5 billion...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth11 August 1949
CountryUnited States of America
My father worked in a post office and never made probably more than $8,000 a year as an employee of the post office, so when people can rise up from very modest circumstances and do well economically, I think that's a good thing about America, and we should encourage that kind of activity.
What do most people say on their deathbed? They don't say, 'I wish I'd made more money.' What they say is, 'I wish I'd spent more time with my family and done more for society or my community.
The world is a complicated place, and there's a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way nothing else does.
I think it's a little unfair for people to say you're not paying your fair share of taxes. I'm paying what I'm supposed to pay. Change the law, and I'll pay what I'm supposed to pay.
I really hope that the philanthropy movement is seen not just as wealthy people giving money away but wealthy people giving away their time, their energy and their ideas.
People used to think that private equity was basically just a compensation scheme, but it is much more about making companies more efficient.
The business of New Orleans is tourism, and New Orleans has got to get back to business. There's all this talk about bringing people back to New Orleans, but without tourism there won't be any jobs for them to come home to.
This is an incredible success if you look at the things we got out of it. People seeing who we are and what we're about.
Last spring at our general body meeting we took a poll of 50 students and Carville was the top choice of the people we put up for consideration. We wanted someone who was successful, popular, dynamic and engaging, and he fits the bill on all of those.
Europe is more attractive than the U.S. and Asia, where there are fewer opportunities for restructuring.
Right now we're operating as if the music's not going to stop playing and the music is going to stop. I am more concerned about this than any other issue.
Probably in 2035 we will pass that mantle on to China. It will be the biggest economy in the world, and it will go way past us and way past India. Given the growth, the size, the opportunities, I don't think there's any other place in the world that can match it.
We intend to be much more active in the wind, power, solar energy, biomass and geothermal areas.
Of course Ken Starr was the leader of the impeachment movement against Bill Clinton and we are not particularly thrilled about him coming. However, we want to hear what he has to say.