Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Breakfast with the FT: David Bonderman

It is 7.30am at the St Regis Hotel in New York and the Astor Court, where breakfast is served, is almost deserted. The St Regis is a staid Midtown hotel built in 1904 that sits between Fifth and Madison avenues. Many of the staff appear to be only slightly younger than the hotel itself. When David Bonderman, irreverent billionaire co-founder of buy-out firm TPG (formerly Texas Pacific Group), saunters in, the underemployed staff scurry over to greet him by name. Bonderman always stays in the St Regis when he passes through New York. He says it is because he is loyal (although he later tells me that loyalty to the undeserving is his biggest flaw) and because they unpack his bags for him. 

Once a bankruptcy lawyer, Bonderman, 65, is now one of the most prominent figures in the dizzying world of private equity, named as the 105th richest American, with a net worth of about $3.3bn, according to the 2007 Forbes 400 List. He is a big, dishevelled man, sometimes seen wearing socks that don’t match (although TPG is co-owner of Neiman Marcus, arguably the swankiest department store chain in the US).

read the rest published by FT here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/569a70ae-3e64-11dd-b16d-0000779fd2ac.html