On Thanksgiving we asked industry professionals in the US whether or not they planned to work over the holiday break and found that, for most, it was a day to spend time with family, but that they wouldn’t be too far from their BlackBerry to check work email.
But one private equity executive took a “vacation is for wimps” attitude to the next level.
In October, TPG senior partner Kevin Burns bragged to investors during a LP summit that he took a work call during the middle of Easter Mass to push a deal forward, TPG documents leaked last month revealed. So what call was so important that it couldn’t wait? Apparently Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Greek yogurt maker Chobani, who TPG lent $750 million earlier in the year but was exploring a stronger relationship with the firm.
It remains unclear whether LPs were impressed, but it’s hard to imagine the more pious amongst them thinking it was a respectable move. In a 44-page PowerPoint presentation to investors, the slide mentioning the call was even adorned with church attendees gathered at the pew. But, with the firm’s latest credit fund TPG Opportunities Partners III oversubscribed, who are we to argue with their investor relations methods?
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