History
CD&R was founded on a simple premise: good investments result from sound decision-making; and great businesses are built with a commitment to operational excellence.
How We Started
CD&R was founded as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 1978 by Gene Clayton, Marty Dubilier and Joe Rice. They shared the belief that the combination of financial and operating capability would lead to better decision making, more effective business building and strong investment performance. They called it an operational approach to private equity investing. They also believed the Firm should always “do the right thing." This was fundamental to who CD&R would be and how it would do business.
Four Decades of Leadership
More than 45 years later, we believe the Firm continues to set the standard for operational value creation in large scale private equity. Our operating and investment professionals work together in our business to help create value and build better businesses. We believe this approach has driven our strong track record through numerous economic cycles. The Firm’s continued adherence to the highest levels of integrity and trust in what we do reflects both our history and our values.