
“Honor your parents.”
— David Rubenstein
David M. Rubenstein (davidrubenstein.com) is co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm with $230 billion under management.
David is chairman of the boards of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Harvard Corporation, and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution.
David, an original signer of the Giving Pledge, has made transformative gifts for the restoration or repair of the Washington Monument, Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, National Archives, National Zoo, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
David is host of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations on Bloomberg TV and the author of The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians and How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers.
David is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Chicago Law School.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Brought to you by ShipStation shipping software, Headspace easy-to-use app with guided meditations, and Theragun percussive muscle therapy devices. More on all three below.
The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
This episode is brought to you by ShipStation. Do you sell stuff online? Then you know what a pain the shipping process is. ShipStation was created to make your life easier. Whether you’re selling on eBay, Amazon, Shopify, or over 100 other popular selling channels, ShipStation lets you access all of your orders from one simple dashboard, and it works with all of the major shipping carriers, locally and globally, including FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
Tim Ferriss Show listeners get to try ShipStation free for 60 days by using promo code TIM. There’s no risk, and you can start your free trial without even entering your credit card info. Just visit ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the TOP of the homepage, and type in “TIM”!
This episode is brought to you by Theragun! Theragun is my go-to solution for recovery and restoration. It’s a famous, handheld percussive therapy device that releases your deepest muscle tension. I own two Theraguns, and my girlfriend and I use them every day after workouts and before bed. The all-new Gen 4 Theragun is easy to use and has a proprietary brushless motor that’s surprisingly quiet—about as quiet as an electric toothbrush.
Go to Therabody.com/Tim right now and get your Gen 4 Theragun today, starting at only $179.
This episode is brought to you by Headspace! Headspace is your daily dose of mindfulness in the form of guided meditations in an easy-to-use app. Whatever the situation, Headspace can help you feel better. Overwhelmed? Headspace has a 3-minute SOS meditation for you. Need some help falling asleep? Headspace has wind-down sessions their members swear by. And for parents, Headspace even has morning meditations you can do with your kids. Headspace’s approach to mindfulness can reduce stress, improve sleep, boost focus, and increase your overall sense of well-being.
Go to Headspace.com/Tim for a FREE one-month trial with access to Headspace’s full library of meditations for every situation.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
Want to hear another episode with someone who’s spent time studying White House power dynamics? Listen to my conversation with biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin, in which we discuss her firsthand accounts of working with LBJ, the greatest separator in leadership, how Abe Lincoln turned enemies into friends, how to have civil discourse in a politically polarized nation, underrated leaders, overcoming procrastination, and much more.
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with David Rubenstein:
- The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations | Bloomberg
- How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers by David M. Rubenstein
- The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians by David M. Rubenstein
- The Carlyle Group
- JFK’s Inaugural Address | JFK Library
- David Rubenstein Oral History, Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy | Miller Center
- Difference Between Eidetic Memory and Photographic Memory | BetterHelp
- David Rubenstein: Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union
- Was Jimmy Carter the Most Underrated President in History? | The New York Times
- The Hostage Crisis in Iran | The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
- Reaping the Big Profits from a Fat Cat | The New York Times
- Leveraged Buyout (LBO) | Investopedia
- Venture Capital | Investopedia
- Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
- Corporate Kleptocracy at RJR Nabisco | Investopedia
- Two and Twenty | Investopedia
- The Medieval Geniuses Who Invented Carried Interest and the Modern Barbarians Who Want to Tax It | Foundation for Economic Education
- The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Convertible Debt | Startup Grind
- Y Combinator
- Origin of ‘No Jack Kennedy’ Comment Disputed | NPR
- Fidelity Investments
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management
- Vanguard
- Minority Interest | Investopedia
- Investing in War | Center for Public Integrity
- ‘Ex-Presidents Club’ Gets Fat on Conflict | The Guardian
- How Amazon Makes Money: Amazon Business Model in a Nutshell | FourWeekMBA
- Financier: The Biography of André Meyer: A Story of Money, Power, and the Reshaping of American Business by Cary Reich
- Lazard
- The Carlyle | NYC
- Alex. Brown | Raymond James
- What Is EBITDA and Why Does It Matter? | The Motley Fool
- Analyzing the Price-to-Cash-Flow Ratio | Investopedia
- Price-to-Earnings Ratio – P/E Ratio | Investopedia
- Amazon Shareholder Letters | Amazon
- Standing Ovation Greets Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Cameo in DC Opera | The Guardian
- Washington National Opera Remembers RBG | Kennedy Center
- The Evolution of The Tonight Show | The Chant
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro
- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro
- Power Is Not Only an Aphrodisiac, It Does Weird Things to Some of Us | SFGate
- The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
- Master Of The Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro
- Kennedy: The Classic Biography by Ted Sorensen
- A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
- His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life by Jonathan Alter
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- Opinion: Alliteracy and the Empathy Gap | Burlington Free Press
- Consequences of illiteracy | Literacy Foundation
- The Cost of Illiteracy | Literacy Matters Foundation
- Literacy Awards | Library of Congress
- QuestBridge
- National Park Service Completes Renovation of Iwo Jima Statue | NPR
- All-American | 60 Minutes, CBS News
- The Giving Pledge
- David Rubenstein Donates $18.5 Million to Restore the Lincoln Memorial | National Mall and Memorial Parks
- Magna Carta | The British Library
SHOW NOTES
- When he was in his teens, what did David aspire to be? [06:35]
- Who was Ted Sorensen, and when did he enter the picture? [08:33]
- Why do some of the best speechwriters in the history of politics seem to be extremely young, and how accurate is it to say that Ted Sorensen was JFK’s “intellectual blood bank” in his 30s? [10:26]
- Viewing his career in law as a stepping stone into the world of politics, how did young David take criticisms that maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer? [12:45]
- How did David end up as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy during the Carter administration? What did his first month working at The White House look like, and how did he learn to fulfill the duties expected of him? [14:27]
- In hindsight, what does David consider the best decisions he had made up to this point in his career? [19:40]
- David considers speaking, reading, and writing well to be crucial basic skills for anyone with the ambition to make something of themselves. What would be his methodology for teaching these skills to a college freshman class? [21:56]
- What’s David’s process for giving a compelling, action-packed speech without relying on notes? [23:01]
- Why — and at what age — did David decide to become an entrepreneur, and how might his life have turned out differently if Jimmy Carter had been reelected for a second term? [28:32]
- Deciding to go into business for himself, David started a buyout firm. What does a buyout firm do, and why was this such a booming business in the late ’70s and early ’80s? [32:35]
- What are the potential risks of a private equity deal, and how does David mitigate them? [37:39]
- How did David and his partners arrive at the innovations that drove the success of the Carlyle Group? [43:11]
- Described as a virtuoso of private fundraising, did David begin Carlyle with a global, Fidelity-style approach in mind? Why did he embrace the role of company fundraiser when it was traditionally something the industry delegated to third parties? Furthermore, how did Carlyle leverage its association with DC insiders to achieve brand recognition (and in what ways did this backfire when these associations operated in the political realm)? [46:21]
- When Carlyle was implicated in the court of public opinion as being a behind-the-scenes player in orchestrating the war in Iraq, how did it affect David? [49:33]
- What are some of the most common mistakes David sees novice fundraisers make, and why is it so hard to learn the ropes without making these kinds of rookie mistakes? [50:52]
- What’s the origin story of the Carlyle Group name? [54:33]
- How much was David trying to drum up during Carlyle Group’s initial round of fundraising, and how did he secure it in spite of no longer being a White House insider? [56:17]
- David says: “If you have a good track record, you can raise an infinite amount of money.” But what does a good track record look like, and how did David differentiate Carlyle from other firms in its fundraising efforts? [58:02]
- How did Carlyle compensate the company’s fundraising staff in a way that would retain their services and incentivize them to excel? [1:00:37]
- What lessons did David learn from Jeff Bezos after interviewing him for his book How to Lead, and what deal does he wish Carlyle had made with him early on? [1:01:46]
- What lessons and impressions did David glean from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg? [1:05:45]
- On the interview format as being a fairly modern innovation, why it’s a shame Johnny Carson couldn’t have interviewed Henry VIII or Alexander the Great, and the insights we might gain from listening to less-recognized voices. [1:07:51]
- As someone who’s spent time among the world’s most powerful, David weighs in with his impressions of how power manifests itself in the halls of policy — and how it becomes more than just status, but a form of currency in certain circles. [1:10:37]
- What books about power — its beneficent uses and malevolent abuses — does David recommend? [1:13:13]
- Does David read fiction? As a voracious reader who aims to make it through a high volume of books each year, what’s the criteria for the ones that make it to his shelf? Does he ever give up on a book that doesn’t quite capture his interest, or will he soldier through it to the end? [1:16:40]
- How does David think we can best address and correct the widespread problem of illiteracy — a major source of recidivism and income inequality? [1:21:20]
- David’s advice to new parents who are financially successful but don’t want to raise kids who are complacent or entitled. [1:23:44]
- At age 71, what fears, regrets, and hopes does David spend time thinking about? In what ways might we honor our parents if we still have time to do so? [1:27:16]
- Must-do bucket list items. [1:32:24]
- Called “Clark Kent in a suit and tie” on 60 Minutes, what acts of patriotic philanthropy make David proudest? [1:34:06]
- What would David’s billboard say? [1:38:05]
- Parting thoughts. [1:38:46]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
- John F. Kennedy
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Ted Sorensen
- Scoop Jackson
- Paul Weiss
- Adlai Stevenson
- Arthur Goldberg
- Ramsey Clark
- John Favreau
- Barack Obama
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Richard M. Nixon
- James Carter
- Birch Bayh
- Monica Lewinsky
- Gerald Ford
- George H.W. Bush
- Ronald Reagan
- Bill Simon
- Marc Andreessen
- Reid Hoffman
- Frank Carlucci
- James A. Baker III
- Arthur Levitt
- Dick Darman
- George W. Bush
- Lou Gerstner
- Jeff Bezos
- André Meyer
- The Mellon Family
- Ed Mathias
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Phil Knight
- Oprah Winfrey
- Bill Gates
- Paul Getty
- Howard Hughes
- Daniel Ludwig
- Julius Caesar
- William Shakespeare
- Charlemagne
- Alexander the Great
- Henry VIII
- Abraham Lincoln
- George Washington
- Robert Caro
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Henry Kissinger
- Peter Baker
- Susan Glasser
- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
- Andrew Johnson
- James Buchanan
- Warren Harding
- Jacqueline Kennedy
- Bear Bryant
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
I enjoyed this and many other interviews from your catalog over the years. What struck me about all this talk of leadership and service to our country, reputation etc , especially the part about books and bios of presidents and people in politics was, not a word was mentioned about the 30 odd books written about Donald Trump while still in office or his legacy as a leader and businessman. Was there some agreement beforehand about this ?
Looks like a very good episode. I’ll give it a listen.
Do you have any posts on cross stitching? Like, “the 4 hour cross stitcher”?
I’ve listened to about 95% of all of Tims podcast episodes, this is top 5!
Awesome podcast. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.
I’m a fairly recent listener to the podcast but I’m still amazed at how every now and then Tim creates another of my favourite podcasts. The last one was the discussion with Hugh Jackman – can’t wait for the next!