Joe Rice, a founder of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC and an early practitioner of the leveraged buyouts that transformed finance, is stepping down after 34 years at the company, according to a letter sent to investors.
Rice, a Harvard Law School graduate and a former lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, will step down as chairman of CD&R in June, the firm's chief executive Donald Gogel told investors in the letter dated April 25 and obtained by Reuters.
A pioneer of the private equity industry, Rice, 80, made his name by spotting untapped potential and turning companies around. He gained wide recognition in 1991 when he bought IBM Corp's printer division and transformed it into a global inkjet manufacturer, reaping 4.3 times his firm's $200 million investment.
CD&R went on to be part of some of the major private equity deals in the U.S. and Europe, including the $15 billion takeover of car rental firm Hertz Corporation from Ford Motor Co and the $3 billion acquisition of Sally Beauty Holdings, a retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies.
Rice got a degree from Williams College in 1954 and served in the Marines until 1957. In 1960 he graduated from Harvard Law and worked at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP until 1966, when he joined Laird Incorporated, an investment banking firm.
Rice founded CD&R in 1978 along with Martin Dubilier and Eugene Clayton. Clayton left the firm in 1985, and Dubilier died of lung cancer in 1991.
Rice is now expected to spend more time with the Private Capital Research Institute, an industry think tank which he co-founded. His departure may put added pressure on the firm to outline plans to find an eventual successor for 63-year-old Gogel.
With $13 billion in assets under management, CD&R has chosen not to follow some of its peers such as Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group LP, that have grown by investing in alternative assets beyond buyouts.
Still, its senior advisers include big names such as former General Electric Co chief executive Jack Welch, former Procter & Gamble chief executive Alan Lafley and former Tesco Plc chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.
The New York Times reported on Rice's departure earlier on Thursday.
Join the Conversation