【原版杂志阅读】Day 20:《The economist》Private Equity

Private Equity

The barbarianestablishment

Private equity hasprospered while almost every other approach to business has stumbled. That isboth good and disturbing

THIS year Henry Kravisand George Roberts, the second “K” and the “R” of KKR, celebrated their 72ndand 73rd birthdays, respectively. Steve Schwarzman, their equivalent atBlackstone, turned 69; his number two, Hamilton James, 65. In the past fewmonths David Rubenstein, William Conway and Daniel D’Aniello, the trio behindand atop Carlyle, turned 67, 67 and 70. Leon Black, founder and head of Apollo,is just 65.

These men run the world’sfour largest private-equity firms. Billionaires all, they are at or well pastthe age when chief executives of public companies move on, either by choice orforce. Apple, founded the same year as KKR (1976), has had seven bosses;Microsoft, founded the year before, has had three. On average, public companiesreplace their leaders once or twice a decade. In finance executives beginbowing out in their 40s, flush with wealth and drained by stress. 

The professionallongevity of the private equiteers—whose trade is the use of pooled money tobuy operating companies in whole or in part for later resale—is thus ratherremarkable. But do not expect to see a lot of fuss made about it. Since theuproar over a lavish 60th birthday party for MrSchwarzman on the eve of thefinancial crisis (guests were entertained by his contemporary, Rod Stewart),such celebrations have become strictly private affairs. At KKR there has beenlittle fuss over the company’s 40th anniversary—a striking milestone, given thefate of the institutions that previously employed the big four’s founders: BearStearns (gone), Lehman Brothers (gone), First National Bank of Chicago (gone)and Drexel Burnham Lambert (gone). The company has announced a programmeencouraging civic-minded employees to volunteer for 40 hours.

一、词汇部分

1.         barbarian /bɑːrˈber.i.ən/ adj.野蛮的，未开化的

英文释义：the state of not showing proper respect for education, art etc.

词汇助记：

1)     词根：barbar-胡说

2)     后缀：-ian形容词后缀或名词后缀

3)     扩展：Canadian 加拿大的；comedian喜剧演员

2.         prosper /ˈprɑː.spɚ/v.繁荣，成功

英文释义： to be or become successful, especially financially

词汇助记：

1）前缀：pro- 向前

2）词根：sper-希望

3）扩展：desperate 绝望的;prosperous 繁荣的；prosperity n.希望

3.         stumble /ˈstʌm.bəl/ v.跌倒，出错

英文释义： to step awkwardly while walking or running and fall or begin to fall

词汇助记：

1)     对比词：stumbe/humble

2)     首辅音：st-stay/stand/still

4.         equivalent /ɪˈkwɪv.əl.ənt/ adj.  对等的

英文释义：having the same amount, value, purpose, qualities, etc.

词汇助记：

1）前缀：equ-相等

2）词根：val-价值

3）后缀：-ent形容词后缀

4）扩展：valid adj.有效的

5）扩展：invalid adj.无效的，虚弱的

5.         lavish /ˈlæv.ɪʃ/ adj.浪费的

英文释义：large in quantity and expensive or impressive

词根助记：

1）词根：lav- 冲洗

2）后缀：-ish形容词后缀

3）扩展：lavatory 盥洗室

二、核心句子理解

At KKR there has been littlefuss over the company’s 40th anniversary—a striking milestone,given the fate ofthe institutions that previously employed the big four’s founders: Bear Stearns(gone), Lehman Brothers (gone), First National Bank of Chicago (gone) andDrexel Burnham Lambert (gone).

1）知识点: have fuss over 对…关心，关注

主句：At KKR there has been little fuss over the company’s 40thanniversary

2）知识点：同位语

the company’s 40th anniversary—a strikingmilestone

3）知识点：分词做状语

结构：主句，过去分词。

原句；主句，given the fate ofthe institutions that previously employed the big four’s founder

4）知识点：定语从句

结构：名词＋ that… 并且that在从句中做主语，或者宾语。

原句：the fate of theinstitutions that previouslyemployed the big four’s founder

参考翻译：在KKR,公司成立40周年这样引人注目的里程碑也没有多少动静，大概是考虑到那些曾经雇佣了四大私募股权基金创始人的机构的命运：贝尔斯登（倒闭了）、雷曼兄弟（倒闭了）、芝加哥第一国民银行（倒闭了）和德崇证券（倒闭了）。

三、整段领读

These men run the world’sfour largest private-equity firms. Billionaires all, they are at or well past theage when chief executives of public companies move on, either by choice or force. Apple, founded the same year as KKR (1976), has had seven bosses; Microsoft, founded the year before, hashad three. On average, public companiesreplace their leaders once or twice a decade. In finance executives beginbowing out in their 40s, flush with wealth anddrained by stress. 

1）run表示经营，管理

2）They are at or well past the age… 介词的并列结构

3）定语从句：when chief executivesof public companies move on

备注：move on 表示离开，或者更换工作

4）bow out 退出

5）in one’s +数字整十，在某人几十岁的时候

6）完整句子，形容词短语做状语 and 过去分词做状语。

参考翻译：这些人经营者世界上最大的四家私募股权基金公司，个个都是亿万富翁。到了他们这把年纪，无论是自主选择还是被逼无奈，上市公司的首席执行官们都准备或者早已衣锦还乡。与kkr同年创办（1976）的苹果公司已经换了七任老板，再早一年成立的微软则换过三任。平均而言，上市公司每十年要换一到两次领导人，金融业的高官40多岁就逐步隐退，赚的盆满钵满却也因压力而精疲力尽。

三、片段参考翻译

私募股权基金

蛮族集团

私募股权基金蓬勃发展，而几乎所有其他经营方式都步履维艰。这既是好事，也令人不安。

今年，亨利克拉维斯(Henry Kravis) 和乔治罗伯茨( George Roberts)分别庆祝了72岁和73岁的生日。它们的姓氏即是“KKR”这家公司名字中第二个“K” 和“R” 的来源。在核实集团中拥有同样地位的史蒂夫施瓦茨曼（Steve Schwarzman）今年69岁，二二号任务汉密尔顿詹姆斯（Hamilton James）也65岁了。在过去的几个月中，凯雷集团（Carlyle）背后和塔尖的三巨头——大卫鲁宾斯坦（David Rubinstein）、威廉康威（WilliamConway）和丹尼尔达尼埃洛（Daniel D’ Aniello）分别满67岁、67岁和70岁。阿波罗（Apollo）的创始人和老板莱昂布莱克（Leon Black）则刚刚65岁。

这些人经营者世界上最大的四家私募股权基金公司，个个都是亿万富翁。到了他们这把年纪，无论是自主选择还是被逼无奈，上市公司的首席执行官们都准备或者早已衣锦还乡。与kkr同年创办（1976）的苹果公司已经换了七任老板，再早一年成立的微软则换过三任。平均而言，上市公司每十年要换一到两次领导人，金融业的高官40多岁就逐步隐退，赚的盆满钵满却也因压力而精疲力尽。

这样看来，私募股权基金的从业人士（他们的工作是私募资金），全部或部分购买运营公司以备日后转售）的任职年限如此之长令人称奇。不过不要指望他们对此大做文章了。施瓦茨曼在金融危机前夕举办的60岁奢华生日排队（请到了与他同时代的的罗德斯图尔特（Rod Stewart）为宾客助兴）备受指责，这样的庆祝现已变成了绝对秘密的活动。在KKR,公司成立40周年这样引人注目的里程碑也没有多少动静，大概是考虑到那些曾经雇佣了四大私募股权基金创始人的机构的命运：贝尔斯登（倒闭了）、雷曼兄弟（倒闭了）、芝加哥第一过敏银行（倒闭了）和德崇证券（倒闭了）。该公司已经宣布了一项计划，鼓励富有公民意识的员工参加40小时的志愿工作。