Gregg Lemkau - The Evolution of MSD (Capital Allocators, EP.291)
Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry
Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert
4.7 • 841 Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2023
⏱️ 59 minutes
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Summary
Gregg Lemkau is the CEO of MSD Partners, the investment firm with roots as Michael Dell's family office. MSD was formed in 1998 to manage $400 million of Michael's capital. In the ensuing twenty-five years, that initial $400 million has grown to north of $20 billion. Gregg joined MSD two years ago after a twenty-eight-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he rose to Co-Head of Investment Banking, served on the Firm's Management Committee, and was widely considered one of a few candidates to succeed David Solomon as Goldman's CEO.
Our conversation covers Gregg's career path at Goldman and lessons learned, including entertaining stories about his work with such fascinating entrepreneurs as Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick. We discuss his decision to join MSD, the firm's history, objectives, competitive advantages, and investment capabilities. We then turn to MSD's recently announced merger with BDT Partners, including the rationale, process, and integration of the businesses. We close with a look into the future of the transformed organization.
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| 0:00.0 | Capital Allocators is brought to you by Ten East, an investment platform for sophisticated investors to access private markets. |
| 0:10.5 | Ten East brings benefits of having your own family office without the cost and headaches of doing so. |
| 0:16.8 | It's founded and led by Michael LaFelle, former deputy executive managing member of Davidson Kempner. |
| 0:24.2 | Michael and his investment team offer members the opportunity to co-invest by offering at their |
| 0:29.1 | discretion. Michael and his team source, diligence, and commit material personal capital to each |
| 0:35.3 | investment. The opportunities shared on the Ten East platform |
| 0:38.9 | offer exposure to private credit, real estate, niche venture and private equity, and other |
| 0:44.5 | idiosyncratic investments that typically aren't available through traditional channels. |
| 0:49.2 | The principles have over a decade track record of investing in these types of exposures |
| 0:53.5 | across more than 350 |
| 0:55.7 | transactions. Post-investment, the Tennis team conducts ongoing monitoring and reporting, |
| 1:01.8 | just as you'd expect from an institutional investment organization. I've known Michael for about a |
| 1:07.0 | decade, and after becoming impressed by the quality of 10 East offerings, its research |
| 1:11.6 | process, and high-quality investment team, I became an advisor to the organization, an investor |
| 1:17.1 | in multiple offerings. You can learn more and join me as a member at 10east.com. That's the number |
| 1:24.6 | 10, east.co. |
| 1:38.1 | Hello, I'm Ted Sides, and this is Capital Allocators. |
| 1:44.0 | This show is an open exploration of the people and process behind capital allocation. Through conversations with |
| 1:45.9 | leaders in the money game, we learn how these holders of the keys to the kingdom allocate |
| 1:51.4 | their time and their capital. You can join our mailing list and access premium content |
| 1:56.8 | at capital allocators.com. All opinions expressed by TED and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not |
| 2:05.0 | reflect the opinion of capital allocators or their firms. |
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