Robert Smith: The Richest Black American & King of Tech Buyouts

Robert F. Smith is the world’s richest African American, but for some reason, no one really knows about him. We’re all familiar with the likes of Oprah, Michael Jordan, Rihanna and Jay-Z, but Robert Smith didn’t build his wealth in sports or entertainment. He’s the founder of Vista Equity Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity firms.
Vista invests exclusively in software, data and tech-enabled businesses. Whether you’re a B2B SaaS business in Silicon Valley, a data analytics firm in New York or a fintech startup in Stockholm, Vista Equity is probably keeping a close eye on you. The company manages $96 billion in assets, has completed more than 590 private equity transactions and made Robert Smith a billionaire many times over. Behind this legendary private equity firm is the incredible story of a young man who just wanted to become an engineer, but instead ended up competing with the biggest financiers on Wall Street.
- ABOUT PROBABLY SOMETHING -
Hey, I'm Kunal. I'm a Swedish founder in NYC and ex-investment banker (Lazard M&A). You can think of this as my personal business blog, but in video format.
I create videos about finance, business strategy, M&A and mental models to help me better understand our complex business world. Through my work, I've mostly covered tech, media, healthcare, sports and holdcos so those are naturally the topics I gravitate towards.
My goal is to constantly challenge myself to become a better business operator, investor and thinker by studying world class founders, financiers and investors. I hope this channel will help you do the same.
Just sharing what I'm learning along the way and documenting my journey - nothing on here should be considered financial advice.
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-Kunal Chauhan