Byron Trott

Byron Trott (born December 2, 1958) is an American banker and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of BDT Capital Partners, a merchant bank that provides advice and capital to family-owned companies. Formerly, Trott was vice chairman of Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. He has been considered to be one of the candidates to succeed Warren Buffett after he steps down from his position as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett has called Trott "the only banker he trusts".^[1][2]

Early life and education

Raised in Union, Missouri, Trott received an AB from the University of Chicago in 1981 and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1982.^[3]

Professional career

In 1982, Trott joined Goldman Sachs as a stockbroker, joining Goldman's investment banking division in 1988 and serving underneath future U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.^[4] He eventually rose to become vice chairman of investment banking at Goldman Sachs.^[5] He advised many of the wealthiest families and closely held companies in deals ranging from the $23 billion Mars-Wrigley combination, the Pritzker’s $4.5 billion sale of Marmon Holdings to Berkshire Hathaway, and the $5 billion capital infusion from Berkshire Hathaway into Goldman Sachs in September 2008 during the financial crisis.^[6]

Trott left Goldman Sachs in early 2009 to strike out on his own.^[7] He runs the Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners, which has two arms: BDT & Co., which advises family-controlled businesses, and BDT Capital Partners, which has raised $8 billion to invest in family owned companies for up to 12 years.^[8] Among the fund’s current investments are a minority stake in Pilot Flying J, which operates U.S. highway rest stops and is controlled by Tennessee's Haslam family; a majority stake in City Beverage, which is Chicago's largest Anheuser-Busch distributorship; a partnership with the Stephen family in Weber-Stephen Products, a manufacturer of barbecue grills; Tudor, Pickering Holt & Co., an energy investment firm; the Wrigley Building in Chicago; and a partnership with the Rales family in Colfax, an industrial manufacturer.^[9] Additional portfolio investments include Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee, and Einstein Bros. Bagels, all in partnership with JAB, the investment vehicle of the Reimann family from Germany, and a minority investment in Tory Burch LLC.^[10]

From an advisory standpoint, BDT & Co. advised the Johnson family in 2009 on the recapitalization of JohnsonDiversey (now Diversey, Inc.), which grew out of S. C. Johnson & Son, and Chicago's Pritzker family in 2010 on the sale of a majority stake in credit bureau TransUnion to Chicago-based private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. BDT & Company Chicago-based Alberto-Culver on its sale to Unilever.^[11] In 2012, BDT & Co. advised Coty, Inc. on its attempted but unsuccessful acquisition of Avon Products, with BDT Capital Partners’ investment fund and its co-investors, which included Berkshire Hathaway, committing $5.8 billion in capital for the acquisition.^[12]

Personal life

Trott serves as a director of Conservation International and a trustee on the boards of The University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2011, Byron was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.^[13] On September 18, 2012, he introduced Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels at the conference 'Tax Competition and 4% Growth: What the Midwest Can Show the Rest of the Country' of the George W. Bush Institute.^[14] In 2015, Trott held a fundraiser for Jeb Bush's presidential candidacy.^[15]

In 2001, Trott paid $11.45 million to buy a pre-Civil War house on Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois.^[16] Shortly after buying the vacant property where the prior owner tore down the house, Trott built a 14,000-square-foot home that was designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern.^[17]

References