Carlyle is now a middle market fund

How does everyone feel about the dismantling of both the consumer and now the tech PE groups? Does Carlyle’s “brand” still make it a good choice for candidates even though they post an IRR below the Marcus Goldman Sachs high yield savings account? Seems like everyone is leaving and it will inevitably die as a fund…

26 Comments
 

I always believed Carlyle success was extremly tied to Rubenstein's popularity/visibility, so not much of a future without him down the road imo

incentives trumph ethics
 

Just a sign of things to come for a lot of funds that grew to above $10b IMO.

 

Worst MF and it's not even close. It's still has strong historic reputation for things like MBAs but not the best place if goal is longer term career in PE. The Senior Associate recruiting process from a MF is very hard and more and more people are ending up at LMMs or bad returning MMs. The people that I know that are the happiest with their post 2 year associate stints are the rare ones that got the promote to SA (almost all at UMM/MM firms) or got into Harvard or Stanford MBA (increasingly rare from even MFs). Think there's like 20 firms minimum I'd take over Carlyle rn (all the other MFs + quite a lot of UMMs).

 
Most Helpful

There's been many versions of this thread, which are all essentially true, but will offer two caveats: 

A) Q2 earnings show their exits from their latest flagship are outperforming the market by a lot, which is at least a good step toward recovery and the next flagship fundraise;

B) Their midlevel is much less crammed than most similar MFs or "hot" MM/UMM names. Yes, you probably have a better chance of making partner there by being an aide to a Senator (or a Senator yourself) than by actually advancing through the PE ranks, for reasons that are a little historical and a little idiosyncratic in nature. But the midlevel there only has like 1-2 VPs, Principals, etc. in each vertical and the return offer (or the offer to stay) for Associates is far from cutthroat. It's a great place to set a cash comp baseline for a few years and still one of the best brands you can have on your resume for either or both of MBA or lateral recruiting.

Yes, you shouldn't take this offer over H&F or, e.g., Arcline, but let's not act like the seat doesn't have its benefits.

 

Not just Partner. When GGC was dying or Oak Hill was “pausing” or Abry is…what Abry is today or Onex was Onex-ing, maybe 5-10% of the industry would take VP roles at those funds.

But what % of the 2nd or 3rd year Associate pool would take a Carlyle VP role right now? 80%? 85%?

People were making these doomer takes about BainCap and TPG too recently and they’re just not something to plot a career around imo.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that Carlyle has not been the same since the departures of some of their big rockstars like Glenn Youngkin and Peter Clare (some people say that it should have been him who should have been new CEO over Harvey Schwartz).

Again, just what I’ve heard, so please take it with a grain of salt and feel free to correct any errors from the grapevine here.

 

Cum eum velit numquam tempore incidunt illo. Voluptas earum modi voluptatem unde et velit. Libero sed dolores quo est tenetur soluta commodi.

Quia quas natus eius eos molestiae nostrum qui placeat. Placeat est aut rerum repudiandae. Hic assumenda perferendis illo veritatis.

Iste voluptates laborum debitis voluptatem qui ut aut. Quidem deleniti nemo hic et recusandae et quia.

 

Dignissimos quasi voluptatem dolores tempora voluptatem qui occaecati. Facilis ipsam nam occaecati qui sint saepe doloribus. Dolor quae dolores deserunt libero vel expedita rerum. Reiciendis libero autem amet facilis et. Voluptas vel provident quas asperiores voluptas minus velit.

Enim corrupti ex eos repellat dolorum consequatur. Beatae non nihil libero assumenda enim. Aut ut ut ipsum eveniet. Aperiam qui enim eligendi.

[Comment removed by mod team]

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Ardian 98.9%
  • Blackstone Group 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (97) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (234) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (95) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (271) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (37) $80
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (351) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”