Title sums it up. Why would a partner at a well respected sponsor leave to raise a fund from scratch? Is it for pure financial gain or excitement (similar to how juniors leave PE to join startups)? Is it politics? Why not join another sponsor and start your own team / fund as a subsidiary?
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In the last 20 years, how many PE billionaires were created grinding their way up an established fund vs starting their own GP? There's obviously more nuance than that for why people go off on their own, but the core reason is basically in that observation.
The only people I can think of are people who joined young MF firms as they scaled (i.e. Boro / Crabill/ Spaht at Thoma). Even then, the list is far smaller than the founders. Bill Chisholm, founder of STG (~$12bn AUM), owns the Celtics and is worth ~$3bn. I’d assume other founders running similarly sized platforms are either billionaires or close to it, just less public about it.
Why do people start anything instead of just working for someone else?
Is this is a real question? Good lord...
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