PE’s Challenge to Corporate Talent

The “public company game has changed dramatically” and increasingly private equity firms have a huge demand for operating talent, making it a good time for corporate executives to consider a career switch to private equity, according to William Conaty, an advisor on human capital matters to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

In a fascinating interview with Privcap, the 40-year veteran of GE tells how private equity has become “a bit of a threat to corporate public talent” and how the incentive structures between public corporations and private equity firms differ. Also discussed: Why having “skin in the game” is so appealing to executives today, most of whom are not “getting rich on stock options” in the current environment. Conaty also discusses his own transition from GE to Clayton Dubilier and how he continues to push his philosophy of “putting people before numbers” in a private-company setting.