Warburg Pincus Appoints Insider for CEO Job
Jeffrey Perlman has been appointed CEO of private equity firm Warburg Pincus, effective September 2, representing only the third generation of leadership for the firm in its nearly 60-year history.
He succeeds Chip Kaye, who joined the company in 1986 and was CEO for more than 20 years. Kaye will serve as chairman alongside former US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Perlman, who started his career at the $83 billion firm, was named president last year and has been a member of its Executive Management Group since 2018. Perlman has considerably expanded its Asian franchise, launching a Singapore office in 2016, handling its private equity investing activities in Southeast Asia, and expanding the firm’s real estate business throughout Asia-Pacific.
Additionally, Perlman is the chairman of the board of directors for the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, which works to create trade and investment opportunities in Southeast Asia. He currently serves or has previously served on the boards of directors for numerous leading companies including BW Industrial Development JSC, MoMo, StorHub, Princeton Digital Group and ESR Group.
“Chip helped build and steward Warburg Pincus’ one firm model and has fostered collaboration and shared success across the firm, truly defining our culture,” said Perlman. “We owe him a deep debt of gratitude. Looking forward, the firm has an accomplished, talented, and experienced next generation of leaders in place, with a highly successful investing track record.”
Kaye is acknowledged with blazing a trail in Asia in 1994, being one of the first global private equity companies to establish offices in China and India. During Kaye’s tenure, Warburg Pincus private equity funds generated more than $100 billion in earnings.
Since its founding in 1966, Warburg Pincus has invested over $117 billion in more than 1,000 companies globally across its private equity, real estate, and capital solutions strategies. The firm has an active portfolio of more than 225 companies.
Pictured l to r: Jeffrey Perlman, Chip Kaye, Timothy Geithner