K.K.R.’s Energy Billionaires Club

[xchrom]

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/k-k-r-s-energy-billionaires-club/

Which of the following individuals is an oil-and-gas magnate who has made billions of dollars through a deal with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in the last three years?

(A) Jeffrey Hildebrand
(B) Terry Pegula
(C) Stacy Schusterman
(D) All of the above

If you answered (D), you are correct!

The private equity firm K.K.R. has had extraordinary success investing in so-called shale plays. Starting in 2009, the firm has placed three consecutive bets on the business of extracting natural gas from shale rock formations through hydraulic fracturing technology, or fracking.

It had previously sold two of those investments, flipping them to large energy companies and making billions of dollars for the firm and its investors. It further pressed its shale bet earlier this week with its $7.2 billion purchase of the Samson Investment Company, the largest corporate leveraged buyout of 2011.

Most of the frenzied interest surrounding domestic drilling for natural gas has been on its potential as a game-changing resource and the environmental risks associated with fracking. Yet very little has been written about the entrepreneurs who have made fortunes staking their businesses on drilling for shale gas.

[The Last Blue Dog]

1. There is nothing wrong with realizing gains on investments.

But it is not right to force taxpayers to provide bailouts when things turn south.

http://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list