For me, few things are more compelling than watching a great opera.
— David Rubenstein
I am involved in a lot of nonprofits. And when I reached the ripe old age of 60, I wanted to provide leadership to some I had been involved in.
It's clear to me when you do private equity well, you're making companies more efficient and helping them grow and become more profitable. That success means our investors - such as public pension funds - benefit, which contributes to the economic wealth of society.
Obama had reached out to the business community, they just haven't liked all of his decisions and some of his rhetoric. But generally, I think the administration is quite open and accessible.
All I'm doing is I'm filling out my tax returns - or my accountants are, and I'm paying whatever I'm supposed to pay, though I'm giving away a large amount of the money and that probably lowers my tax rate because I'm giving away so much money. But change the law, but don't blame me for the law. I'm not writing the law. I didn't write the law.
My father worked in a post office and never made probably more than $8,000 a year as an employee of the post office, so when people can rise up from very modest circumstances and do well economically, I think that's a good thing about America, and we should encourage that kind of activity.
As the baby boomers like me are retiring and getting ready to retire, they will spend whatever it takes - and they're the wealthiest generation in our country - to make themselves live an enjoyable life in their retirement years.
I realised how rich I had become and I asked myself, 'Do I really want to be the richest person in the cemetery?'
The world is a complicated place, and there's a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way nothing else does.
I'm blessed by the fact I only need five hours of sleep on a daily basis. I do tend to regard Saturday and Sunday as work days.
Moneymaking was never anything to me. I was happy never making money; I just was happy doing things I liked. But I fell into the money thing. I now don't feel guilty about it, but I am determined to give away the bulk of it and enjoy doing it.
I think it's a little unfair for people to say you're not paying your fair share of taxes. I'm paying what I'm supposed to pay. Change the law, and I'll pay what I'm supposed to pay.
When I worked in the White House for President Carter, we tried to do comprehensive tax reform and we made some progress, and other presidents have as well.
I'm on a lot of nonprofit boards, but if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't do it. I haven't yet done anything that's transformational in philanthropy. But I hope at some point to target two or three causes or organizations and really make transformational gifts.
Probably in 2035 we will pass that mantle on to China. It will be the biggest economy in the world, and it will go way past us and way past India. Given the growth, the size, the opportunities, I don't think there's any other place in the world that can match it.
I regard food as fuel. I am not a brunch person.
My work life is intense. But I love what I do.
You can only do three things with your money. You can spend it. You can invest it. Or you can give it away. And if you invest it, you're really just getting more money to give away or buy something. How many things can you buy? So I don't really think there's a lot of choices.
I don't really try to get involved politically by giving money to politicians or by saying I'm a Democrat or Republican. Right now, I just view myself as an American.
What do most people say on their deathbed? They don't say, 'I wish I'd made more money.' What they say is, 'I wish I'd spent more time with my family and done more for society or my community.'
I give away about 50 percent of my income, so my, you know, desire to give back to the country is pretty strong and I intend to give away a lot more. I've signed the giving pledge with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, and I intend to give away the bulk of my money.
Anybody who gives away money is mostly looking at things where they think they can make a difference. I'm trying to help people who helped me, educational institutions that helped me with scholarships, or organizations that were very useful to me in growing up.
I've given some money to the scholarships in the District of Columbia, to the best students in D.C... many of the students have written me letters telling me they could not have afforded to go to college without the scholarship and money I've given them.
People used to think that private equity was basically just a compensation scheme, but it is much more about making companies more efficient.
