Any fool can buy a company; just pay enough

It's one of the most important things at the end of the day, being able to say no to an investment.

Whales who come up and spout off get harpooned.

Our industry expertise (at KKR) enables the firm not only to make better investment choices but also to win the confidence of senior management and sellers, which has enabled us to purchase many companies on an exclusive basis.

But once you buy a company, you are married. You are married to that company.

I thought at the time that I wanted to go into institutional sales, selling stocks and bonds to institutions. In those days, which was the 1960s, the institutional salesman was making about $100,000 a year. I thought that was just an enormous amount of money.

I've been in a hurry all my life. I've been in a hurry to succeed, and in a hurry to prove myself.