Are people at megafunds inherently elitist ASSHOLES?

LOL!

You didn't go to an Ivy and had the balls to cold email somebody from KRR/BStone/Apollo?!? #reckless. Your resume and email is probably be circulated amongst Leon Black and Steve Schwarzman as we speak.

On a serious note 1. Fuck that guy 2. If that's how he genuinely responded, you should't want to work there anyway

1/10. Didn't happen.

Yes. At least if by elitist asshole you mean reaching beyond your capabilities and then being rejected (albeit in a pretty harsh way). This is the case with anything/anyone near the top.

This definitely never happened, and no one at KKR would ever say they hire from Yale SOM, let alone only hire from there.

I cold-emailed a very senior person at KKR last year and he responded, very kindly, within 5 minutes. He made an important connection for me. The following year, he read a 26-page research article I sent him - and gave thorough feedback. Don't make sweeping generalizations kid. You need to clearly demonstrate value, including school prestige, in cold emails and you likely didn't - sports rival connections simply don't cut it.

A few things to note though: 1) The dude was an inexcusable douche to you. But don't jump to the conclusion that he typifies the entire "megafund" industry. 2) No harm, no foul, right? There's no reason for you to stop over-reaching with your cold emails, since the downside's limited. As an example, I emailed George Soros (no joke) my 26-page research article. What's the worst thing he can do to me? 3) I did go to an Ivy...

Your story would've been more realistic had you said Harvard or Wharton. Not Yale. In your pretend story you should've laughed at him for saying Yale

This never happened.

Only guy in my year that I know who went there went to a public school for undergrad. Met other public school undergrad kids there during my interview process.

I will humor you and assume this is true though. The guy is probably a psychopath with severe emotional disorders and validation concerns. You will find them everywhere. Some may even run for president some day. Oh wait.

Assuming that OP is not trolling, two thoughts here. First, yes, the guy is a total jackass. Second, you were being irresponsible by overreaching simply based on a stupid rival sports connection. Are you freaking kidding me? We are talking about one of the most elite financial firms in the world, not some college frat initiation ritual. This is the real world kid; if you don't bring something tangible to the table, no one gives a fuck. If you had done any research on the type of people KKR hire (at least for front office investment roles), you would know that a "top 20" MBA is not adequate. He was probably pissed that you wasted his time with your arrogance, lack of knowledge of the firm and its hiring criteria, and the audacity to think that you guys have something in common due to something as meaningless as sports.