American Business Financier and Investor

As an American business financier and investor, Henry Kravis is known most for co-founding Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). Kravis and his cousin, George R. Roberts, entered into the financial sector at around 30-years-old. Joining the staff of Bear Stearns under the corporate finance manager, Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.. Kravis and Roberts quickly became partners at Bear Stearns. In 1976, the three created Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co..Kohlberg taught them what he called “bootstrap” acquisition. He sought out undervalued small companies, or undervalued operations within larger companies, and helped the management of these concerns borrow the capital to buy the business themselves.

Kravis is a supporter of Republican politics. He is also an avid philanthropist. He funds the Henry Kravis Leadership Institute and the “Henry Kravis Interships for Teachers of Color” program. He has also financed the construction of multiple schools. He is a benefactor and past chairman of New York’s public television station and he sits on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kravis and his wife have donated $15 million for the Center for Cardiovascular Health and have endowed the chair in Human Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Kravis also created the New York City Investment Fund, a non-profit organization to create jobs and new business in New York City.

Kenneth Mehlman is an American attorney and highly involved in Republican politics. He currently is the Managing Director and head of Global Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.. AT KKR, he oversees global external affair activities like corporate marketing, public policy and communication. Before joining KKR, Ken Mehlman was a Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, where he helped businesses and individuals manage risk and seize opportunities at the nexus of business and public policy.

He was a campaign manager for George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and served as a chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007. He also is on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Mehlman was chosen by Bush to replace Ed Gillespie as the Republican National Committee chair. He was elected to post on January 19, 2005. The following year, he decided to not seek re-election. He also reached out to African-Americans at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 2005. He apologized for the Republican Party’s failure to reach out to the black community after the Civil Rights Act. While Chairman of the RNC, he co-founded the United States Joint Advisory Committee which advises on domestic and foreign policy.