After a 34-year tenure at Bain Capital, Co-Chair Steve Pagliuca is saying goodbye to his role at the private equity firm. After joining in 1989 he started Information Partners, which was a joint technology investment plan with Dun & Bradstreet, a Bain client. This partnership then led to his first deal in 1990 — the buyout of tech consultant Gartner Inc. — which returned 16 times the original sale price of $4.9 million. He was also a big player in the 2006 purchase of the $32 billion hospital group HCA, which rendered a return 5.2 times the invested capital. While his career has focused mainly on the tech, financial, and telecommunications sectors, Pagliuca was also involved in the 2002 buyout of Burger King with Goldman Sachs and TPG.
Bain Capital will now be run by John Connaughton and Jonathan Lavine, the company’s co-managing partners since 2016. Lavine’s current role is overseeing Bain’s credit investing, and Connaughton runs equity investing. The firm oversees roughly $160 billion in assets in entirety between its real estate, venture capital, fixed-income, and credit security services. It employ 1,500 workers across 23 global offices.
Pagliuca is also known as the exuberant owner of the Boston Celtics, where the majority of his attention will lie after leaving Bain Capital. He aspires to buy more sports teams (including his newest acquisition, Italian Serie A soccer club Atalanta) and expand his presence with the Celtics. He will also become a senior advisor for Bain Capital and will continue as a board member. In addition, he has his own family office focused on biotechnology and space technology.
“He’s very smart and humble,” said Jamie Dimon, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase and Pagliuca’s Harvard Business School classmate.
“I can’t even imagine associating the word retirement with him,” Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association, added. “He’ll be busier than ever.”
