Key Facts
Career & Education
About
Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist renowned for co-founding Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in 1976 alongside Jerome Kohlberg and George R. Roberts. He serves as co-executive chairman and co-CEO of KKR, a leading global investment firm specializing in private equity that pioneered the leveraged buyout model and manages billions in assets. Kravis earned a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College (1967) and an MBA from Columbia Business School (1969), then joined Bear Stearns as a partner before co-founding KKR. A landmark achievement was the 1989 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, one of the largest in history at the time. Under his leadership, KKR expanded into diverse sectors including real estate, infrastructure, and credit. Kravis is also a prominent philanthropist, serving as a benefactor and past chairman of New York's public television station, a board member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a trustee of Mount Sinai Medical Center. He has been married three times and has three children. His career has shaped modern investment practices, though KKR's high-leverage strategies have occasionally drawn criticism.