Co-founder David Rubenstein stated he would "liquefy his stake" via The Carlyle Group's IPO. Rubenstein offered the following at Bloomberg Link's China Conference in New York:
"When you create value, ultimately you want to liquefy and get the benefit of that."
Liquefy? Isn't that what happened to a German SS officer's face in an Indiana Jones movie?
Rubenstein went on to defend Mitt Romney's private equity underwriter (PEU) preferred taxation.
"When people comply with the law, they shouldn't be criticized by people who say, 'The law says you're supposed to pay X, you should have paid 2X,'" Rubenstein said. "Change the law if you don't think the law is appropriate."David Rubenstein worked hard to keep PEU carried interest in place, with annual trips to Capital Hill and numerous visits to the White House. Politicians listen to their benefactors, the Rubensteins of the world, even cater to the privileged class.
Rubenstein can tell people to go about changing the law, knowing his one voice counts far more than millions. Might it be because of Rubenstein's billions, which he is ready to liquefy?
Rubenstein is ready to cash in his ecosystem, plain and simple. Which serfs will line up for Carlyle's IPO, where co-founders relinquish few of their kingly responsibilities? It's a PEU co-founder's fantasy, maybe their biggest profit-gasm.
