In part two of our interview series, the Co-Head of Private Equity at Apollo shares how they return capital well ahead of schedule and how they’re applying “clean sheet thinking” to AI.

Exiting Well in Tough Markets w/ Apollo’s David Sambur

Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast

[SPEAKER_A] Previously on Dry Powder.

[SPEAKER_B] You could buy well, you could build well, you could exit well.

[SPEAKER_A] David Sambur, Co-Head of Private Equity at Apollo, laid out his approach to buying well and building well. On today's episode, we'll turn to what may be the hardest part of all.

[SPEAKER_B] Almost no one talks about exiting well because it's the hardest thing to do and people feel like they have the least influence over it.

[SPEAKER_A] For David, exiting well starts earlier in the investment process than you might expect. Today on Dry Powder, we'll see how Apollo starts returning capital well ahead of schedule.

[SPEAKER_B] We got the team very focused on trying to recoup about 40% of every investment capital within the first 2 years of the investment.

[SPEAKER_A] I'll ask David how they use creative structures to generate liquidity even when exit markets are shut. Finally, we'll explore how Apollo is deploying AI across its portfolio companies.

[SPEAKER_B] We have a cultural ethos called „clean sheet thinking„ and we want everyone to basically say, okay, if we were starting this business from scratch today, how would we run it? How would we do to each business process, how would we staff our deals, how would we manage portfolio companies, how would we screen investments, underwrite investments, report to our LPs. Literally every single thing we do is open for change.

[SPEAKER_A] I'm Hugh MacArthur, Chairman of Bain's Global Private Equity Practice, and this is Dry Powder. Now, David, you've mentioned several times the value of exiting well. I would argue, and I do argue quite a bit in public, that that's one thing that this industry writ large, the buyout industry, has not done particularly a great job at over the last 4 or 5...

Exiting Well in Tough Markets w/ Apollo’s David Sambur

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Exiting Well in Tough Markets w/ Apollo’s David Sambur

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.