WaPo reported on The Carlyle Group's investor conference, which occurred on Veterans' Day, 11-11-13. Rather than beat a drum to honor those who served, Carlyle offered a pair of Beats to unitholders and investment house analysts:
To help ensure that the Carlyle Group’s tune was heard loud and clear, each attendee at the District-based private equity firm’s recent investor conference was given a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre earphones. The button-down Carlyle recently made a $500 million investment in Dr. Dre, which garnered attention from the financial world because it was a step in a different direction for the firm, which made its name in the defense and aerospace industries. For seven hours, Carlyle’s top brass, including co-founders David Rubenstein, Bill Conway and Dan D’Aniello, walked investors as well as stock analysts through the fine print of Carlyle’s business. Goldman Sachs analysts liked what they heard, upgrading their rating from “neutral” to “buy” with a price target of $36.In today's economy Beats earphones are considered an "affordable luxury." How many earphones, headphones and speakers can Carlyle's co-founders purchase with their roughly $3 billion net worth? Carlyle's troika rose 41 spots on the Forbes 400 Richest People in America, going from #250 in 2012 to #209 in 2013.
