2 – CRATERAIR
Coffee, tea, or bankruptcy?
—Forbes, September 26, 1994
In the case of the Caterair buyout, Carlyle made up for the money they lost— like many of the company’s early deals, Caterair was horrendously unsuccessful—by hiring the man that would eventually be the leader of the most powerful country in the world: George W. Bush. Caterair may have been a complete failure by ordinary business standards, but the relationships cultivated therein were more than worth the stinging financial losses.
In Washington, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and knowing George W. Bush, then son of the nation’s president, was a valuable connection indeed. But getting an in with the president’s son wasn’t easy, and it all started when the man known simply as “Mr. Marriott” got a hankering to sell one of his businesses. (more…)