Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, more commonly known as KKR, started operating as a private equity company in 1976. Throughout the years, the corporation has grown from a small venture into a mega corporation that etched a place in finance and corporate history.

A premiere name in the private equity and investment business, KKR traces its roots to financial advisory company Bear Sterns. Former Bear Stearns executives Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis, and George Roberts severed their ties with their former company due to the increasing tension between the three and Bear Sterns’ top brass.

Prior to leaving Bear Sterns, Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts did what they call “bootstrap investments” with their clients. They carried on their practice when they founded KKR and made successful investments with such methods.

KKR is considered to be the master of the leveraged buyouts (LBO) and has created the concept of starting a series of limited partnerships to acquire various corporations which they analyze to be underperforming. Since the inception of KKR, the company has grown steadily and became a giant in the business. Among its first clients were large corporations and enterprises such as Wometco Enterprises, Malone and Hyde, Jim Walter Corp., and Beatrice Companies.

But the company is well known for its 1989 corporate takeover of the RJR Nabisco. KKR shelled out $31.1 billion to acquire RJR Nabisco, and the trade was then the largest leveraged buyout in the history of corporate America.

From 2006 to 2008, KKR raked in a number of significant investments. Some of the companies that went under the wing of KKR during this two-year period are NXP Semiconductors, Dollar General, Hospital Corporation of America, Legg Mason, TXU, Sun Microsystems, and Alliance Boots.

Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts remain at the helm as managing partners, handling the company that has 140 investment professionals and 400 employees in total. KKR has offices in the United States and around the world.

Jerome Kohlberg left the firm in 1987. He eventually founded his own company which he called Kohlberg and Company.

Today, KKR’s portfolio is very diverse, with investments in various companies from different industries. Current companies acquired by KKR come from healthcare, consumer products, energy and natural resources, and technology.