From shy young man to private equity titan

Singapore

DAVID Rubenstein's rise from modest beginnings to one of the richest men in the world is an oft-told story.

Born in 1949 in Baltimore city in the US, he was the bookish only child of a mail sorter father and a housewife mother. He went to Duke University, then The University of Chicago Law School. Both schools were picked because they offered the biggest scholarships.

He then worked as a lawyer, notably in former US President Jimmy Carter's administration. Colleagues recalled him as shy.

In 1987, he decided to start a buyout company in Washington, tapping on his political experience. The name, Carlyle, came from a fancy New York hotel. At that time, he was, by his own assessment, not a very good lawyer. And he was apparently intrigued by a famous buyout deal involving greetings card maker Gibson Greetings…