Joe Landy to step aside as Warburg Pincus co-CEO

Joseph P. Landy is stepping aside as co-chief executive officer of Warburg Pincus, the private equity firm he has helped manage since 2000, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mr. Landy, 58, will transition out of the co-CEO role over the next year, said the person, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn't public.

Mr. Landy declined to comment through a representative for Warburg Pincus, who confirmed the move.

Charles Kaye, 55, — Mr. Landy's partner in managing and growing the firm for two decades — will become sole CEO while former U.S. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, 57, will remain president, the person said.

It is an amicable succession and Mr. Landy feels the timing is right to move on, as Warburg Pincus recently closed two funds, the person said, adding that he plans to remain affiliated with the firm.

It's only the second top-level management transition in the firm's 53-year history. Landy and Kaye have co-led the firm since the early 2000s, after founders Lionel Pincus and John Vogelstein stepped down. During Messrs. Landy and Kaye's tenure, assets under management have grown to more than $65 billion, including in the last year closing the $14.8 billion Warburg Pincus Global Growth and the $4.25 billion Warburg Pincus China-South East Asia funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Founders and leaders have been stepping back in recent years at some of the world's biggest private equity firms.

In 2017, David Rubenstein and Bill Conway stepped down as co-chief executives of Carlyle Group LP, to be succeeded by Kewsong Lee and Glenn Youngkin. That same year, KKR & Co. named Joseph Bae and Scott Nuttall co-presidents and co-chief operating officers.

One of Landy's key legacies: He and Mr. Kaye have opted to keep Warburg Pincus private while Carlyle, KKR and other blue-chip buyout firms including Blackstone Group LP have become sprawling, publicly traded asset managers.

Warburg Pincus, in turn, has hewed close to its roots of focusing on growth equity investments and leveraged buyouts. In March, it partnered with Apax Partners on a $3.4 billion deal to buy satellite operator Inmarsat.

Mr. Landy, who joined Warburg Pincus in 1985, is heavily involved in the firm's investment process along with his management responsibilities, particularly in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. He is a director of Crowdstrike Holdings Inc., which went public in June. Warburg Pincus was the first outside investor in Crowdstrike and remains its largest shareholder, according to regulatory filings.

He also sat on the boards of other companies Warburg Pincus has backed, including Avaya Holdings Corp. and Bausch & Lomb Inc.

Warburg Pincus, founded in 1966, traces its roots to E.M. Warburg & Co., an investment banking firm started in the 1930s. It raised its first pool of money — $41.5 million — in 1971 and less than 10 years later became the first private equity firm to amass a $100 million fund.