dual degree combination?

What would be a good dual degree combination for private equity? I was considering studying engineering or maybe computer science in addition to finance. Is it better to be able to specialize in a particular industry (such as high tech) rather than just looking at things from a purely financial perspective?

I have little experience in this area, but I figured if you were going to invest in a company (VC, LBO, etc) it would be good to have an in-depth understanding of the product/industry?

17 Comments
 

I'd say most people working in PE don't have an engineering background whether they deal with tech companies or not. It would obviously be a plus to have that deeper understanding, but you might also signal that you want to silo yourself into tech deals. The broader the perspective, the better. Personally, I'd say to do finance and accounting - nothing beats knowing how to read financial statements.

 

cliche, but i would argue that you should major in whatever interests you the most. but since you asked...

for vc, an engineering background goes a long way.

for pe, do either finance/accounting or finance/management. aside from valuation or reading financials, you need to be able to talk strategically about investments and what kind of value addition you can underwrite to

 

thanks for the responses.

I'm hesitant to do accounting or management because we are already required to take some basic courses in those subjects at wharton.

What about math or physics?

 
Best Response

...you really want that dual degree

don't mean to discourage you, but if megafund PE is your goal right out of wh, it's a hell of a crap shoot since BX takes 0-2 from you guys every year. of the two that i know, one was huntsman, one was fnce/acct. another individual that went to Silver Lake (which is tech-focused) was also fnce/acct.

that said, if you're genuinely interested in tech/engineering, you should get that dual. in my mind, engineering is more practical than mathematics, and it opens doors to VC down the road... it won't help you get a PE job necessarily, since i think they care more about your modeling skills, finance savvy, and ability to think about investments (and obv. fit).

 

What if you wanted to aim for TMT groups? Would it then make sense to get an engineering degree as well or still just finance/accounting?

 

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