Assertion Supported
SoftBank threatened to fund Lyft if Uber rejected its investment offer
“And so it was negotiating a deal with SoftBank, who in classic SoftBank fashion was saying, either you take all of our money or we're going to go invest it in Lyft and kill you.”
Opinion
MSD loses to Blackstone and Brookfield on price, competes on duration
“I don't want to go compete against Blackstone and Brookfield in real estate on price. We're going to lose all day long. But if we can compete on duration, we'll do that.”
Insight
Having a long duration capital advantage does not play in public markets
“If duration's our advantage, it doesn't really play in public markets.”
Assertion Supported
Musk tweeted '$420 funding secured' before calling bankers to evaluate buyout
“And Elon put out his infamous tweet around four, 20 funding secured. Then he called the bankers, which was slightly out of order.”
Opinion
Lemkau considers Uber founder Travis Kalanick the most impressive executor he's seen
“Travis, I'd say it's just the most impressive executor I'd ever seen. I mean, anyone who builds a business model at its core is taking on the taxi and limousine commissions in every single city and winning the guy's got to be able to execute and be relentless.”
Disclosure
Lemkau invested in Travis Kalanick's next venture through MSD Partners
“And initially it actually began a relationship where after he and I for months had been at odds, have become friends in the subsequent world as I've gone on to MSD, actually become an investor behind him in his next venture because he, I do think he's a really…”
Opinion
Investors who made wealth on 2-and-20 refusing standard fees is insane
“The number of people who made their money as investors with a two and 20 model who then start their own family office business and decide not to pay two and 20 is sort of insane to me.”
Opinion
Alternative asset managers increasingly chase AUM over maximizing investment returns
“I've just seen an increasing trend in the alts world of chasing AUM, and people feel like they're getting paid to raise money and deploy it as opposed to invest it.”
Insight
Finance is an apprenticeship business requiring in-person collaboration for better performance
“This is an apprenticeship business in every way. So the more we can be together, the better.”
Insight
Allocators should prioritize managers who produce superior net returns over discounted fees
“Focus on the guy who's going to get you three or four X your money for whatever the fee is, as opposed to the guy who's going to get you two X for a discounted fee.”
Opinion
Lemkau considers Gene Sykes the best M&A banker across multiple generations
“I think is probably the best M&A banker of multiple generations and ended up being a mentor of mine.”
Opinion
Lemkau: Musk's genius and fortitude kept Tesla alive during crisis
“And you forget Tesla's now taken off in such an incredible way, but you forget there were moments there when it was really his genius and fortitude that kept that company alive and let it go on and thrive.”
Insight
Reluctance to give direct, blunt feedback holds managers back the most
“Blunt talk, like giving real direct feedback. It's an amazing skill and a liberating skill, and not many people do it. I think it's actually one of the biggest things holding back people from becoming effective managers.”
Insight
Capital duration allows investors to see through cycles without forced selling
“One of the great advantages I think we've had has been duration of capital, really taking the advantage to see through quarters, see through cycles, but also not be forced to sell because you're looking for Capital return, but being able to hold businesses for…”
Disclosure
Michael Dell plans to donate all his wealth during his lifetime
“At some point in his lifetime or shortly thereafter, his plan is to give all his money away and doesn't want that to cripple the firm.”
Insight
Leveraged co-investment forces managers to prioritize downside protection
“If you've got investors with leverage, they're focused on not losing money, number one. The leverage works both ways, and they're focused on really compounding wealth over the long term”
Disclosure
MSD spun out its last public strategy to focus on differentiated edge
“From a public market standpoint, when I got here, we spun out our last public market strategy, really great investor, good business. We actually took a stake in his GP and gave him a bunch of capital, but it just, in the theme of where are we differentiated an…”
Disclosure
BDT and MSD's merger governance has no formal tiebreaker voting mechanism
“And it was fascinating as we were putting together the governance around the deal, everyone said, well, what happens if you guys don't agree?
We're like, we're going to agree.
Well, what if you don't?
We'll go in a room till we agree.
Maybe we'll ask Michael's…”
Assertion Supported
BDT Partners advised the Patagonia family on their historic ownership restructuring
“BDT advised the Patagonia family on this recent thing they did, which is in the news.”
Opinion
Technology founders are personally underserved by financial advisors for wealth diversification
“I think these founders themselves have been underserved in terms of advice. Their companies have been well served, but I think the founders themselves know how to think about wealth diversification, and deployment of capital, and philanthropy, and all the issu…”
Disclosure
BDT and MSD will avoid public mega-mergers and league table M&A advisory
“We're not going to go try to do big, massive public company merger. That's, we're not in the league table M&A business. We're in the, how do you provide trusted advice to families and founders?”
Insight
Playing four hours of golf reveals a person's temperament and ethics
“One, it teaches you someone's temperament because everyone hits a bad golf shot, so you see how they are. Two, it teaches you how they treat other people. How someone treats a caddy is very interesting and insightful. It's like how they treat a waiter. And thr…”
Insight
Investing businesses require strategic step-backs, unlike advisory market-share mindsets
“The classic investment banker mindset is do everything for anybody all the time, right? Solve their problems. Do more. There's an extra five minutes in the day. I can get one more client and actually trying to pull back from that natural temptation of being in…”
Insight
Compounding capital yields meaningfully different outcomes compared to maximizing pre-tax income
“Compounding capital can make a lot of difference. You spend your life in a world of maximizing pre-tax income, and you go to a world of actually compounding capital, if you think about it from an investment standpoint, and it's meaningfully different.”
Gregg Lemkau