How Orlando Bravo Built One of the Most Successful Firms in Private Equity

The conversation opens with a sizzle-reel introduction to the firm, which the automatic transcript renders variously as "Homa Bravo," "Telma Bravo" and "Toma Bravo." The introduction says the firm manages $179 billion in assets, returned over $13 billion to investors last year, and that in 2019 Orlando became the first Puerto Rico-born billionaire. It also states that the good private equity firms "definitely beat the public markets" and frames the firm's mission as "turning great innovators into great businesses."

Before the interview starts, the hosts trade jokes about a scarf one of them, J-Cal, is wearing. He says it was given to him by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for his wife. Another host teases him about a session the previous day in which, according to the teasing, his only rejoinder on the Russia hoax was "what about Paul Manafort."

The interviewer then sets out the figures that framed the discussion. The firm started in 2008, about 17 years ago, and now manages "just a little under 200 billion," a slightly different figure from the $179 billion given in the introduction. In June it raised $34.4 billion across a set of fund vehicles, and it has owned about 500 companies, including many large software companies.

Asked how someone from a small town in Puerto Rico ended up here, the guest begins with Hurricane Maria. He was in San Francisco and heard that a shelter close to his hometown (transcribed as "Mayaguay") had only two days of food and water, and that the government was struggling to supply such towns. A group flew in from San Francisco with food and water the day after. When he landed, a high school friend asked how he had ended up in business. His answer: "the odds are one of us had to get lucky."

His account of how he got there puts his mother at the center. She was a Cuban immigrant who did not want him to stay put, so she kept placing him in situations that required travel. These began with tennis in San Juan. At 10 years old he played his first tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1982, where he says he first saw wealth at a fancy club. Doing well could lead to playing in Florida. He calls himself lucky not to have been good enough to turn pro, which pushed him into business. The only credit he takes for himself is that at a young age he listened, had discipline and took in what two mentors taught him.