Kewsong Lee

Kewsong Lee
Kewsong Lee
Kewsong Lee
Born	12 8, 1965
Birthplace	Albany, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businessman, investor
Title	Founder and CEO, BellTower Partners
Known for	Former CEO of The Carlyle Group; Vice Chair of United Soccer League
Education	Harvard University (AB 1986, MBA 1990)

Kewsong Lee (born August 12, 1965) is an American businessman, investor, and the founder and chief executive officer of BellTower Partners, a private investment firm established in 2023. He is best known for his tenure as chief executive officer of The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms, where he served first as co-CEO from 2018 to 2020 alongside Glenn Youngkin, and then as sole CEO from 2020 until his departure in 2022. Lee's career in private equity spans more than three decades, beginning at Warburg Pincus in 1992, where he spent over two decades before joining Carlyle in 2013. At Carlyle, he oversaw significant structural changes to the firm, including its conversion from a partnership to a corporation. In September 2025, BellTower Partners made a strategic growth investment in the United Soccer League (USL), and Lee was named vice chair of the organization's board of directors. Lee is also active in cultural philanthropy, serving as chair of the board of directors of Lincoln Center Theater, where the artistic director position has been named in his honor. An Albany, New York, native and Harvard University graduate, Lee has built a career at the intersection of finance, governance, and institutional leadership.

Early Life

Kewsong Lee was born on August 12, 1965, in Albany, New York. He is of Korean descent. Lee grew up in the Albany area and attended Choate Rosemary Hall, a private preparatory school in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Lee has maintained connections to his hometown of Albany throughout his career. In 2025, he became a central figure in a proposal to bring a professional soccer stadium and team to downtown Albany through his involvement with the United Soccer League, a development that drew attention to his roots in the capital region of New York State.

Education

Lee attended Harvard University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986. He later returned to Harvard to attend Harvard Business School, where he received his Master of Business Administration degree in 1990.

Lee has remained involved with Harvard University as an alumnus. In 2016, a dining hall renovation at Lowell House, one of Harvard's residential houses, drew attention in part due to donations from prominent alumni including Lee.

Career

Warburg Pincus (1992–2013)

Lee began his career in private equity at Warburg Pincus, one of the oldest and most established private equity firms in the United States, in 1992. Over the course of more than two decades at the firm, Lee built a reputation as a deal-oriented investor with expertise across multiple sectors. His long tenure at Warburg Pincus provided him with deep experience in leveraged buyouts, growth equity, and corporate restructuring.

Lee's departure from Warburg Pincus in 2013 attracted attention in the private equity industry, as he was considered a senior figure at the firm. His move to The Carlyle Group was reported by major financial publications as a significant hire for Carlyle.

The Carlyle Group (2013–2022)

Joining Carlyle and Rise to Leadership

In November 2013, Lee joined The Carlyle Group as its deputy chief investment officer for corporate private equity, a newly created role. The hire was seen as part of Carlyle's effort to bring in experienced outside talent to complement its existing leadership and strengthen its investment capabilities. Lee was brought in to work closely with the firm's founders, including David Rubenstein and William E. Conway Jr., on the firm's private equity strategy.

Lee quickly rose within Carlyle's leadership structure. By 2017, he was identified as one of two executives being groomed to take over the top leadership of the firm from its founding generation. In October 2017, Carlyle announced that Lee and Glenn Youngkin would become the firm's co-chief executive officers, succeeding co-founders Rubenstein and Conway.

The Wall Street Journal described Lee as the "deal whiz" of the duo, noting his extensive track record in investment origination and execution, while Youngkin was characterized as the "homegrown quarterback" who had risen through Carlyle's ranks over many years. The appointment marked a generational transition at one of the world's largest alternative asset management firms, as the founders stepped back from day-to-day management.

Co-CEO Tenure with Glenn Youngkin

Lee and Youngkin formally assumed the co-CEO roles in January 2018. The co-CEO arrangement was designed to leverage the complementary strengths of the two executives. Lee focused primarily on investment strategy, portfolio management, and the firm's corporate private equity business, while Youngkin managed fundraising, investor relations, and certain operational matters.

During the co-CEO period, the firm undertook a major structural change. In 2019, Carlyle announced that it would abandon its partnership structure and convert to a corporation, also eliminating its dual-class share structure. This conversion was a significant governance change that brought Carlyle in line with a broader industry trend among publicly traded alternative asset managers, including competitors such as KKR and Apollo Global Management, which had made or were making similar transitions. The move was intended to simplify the firm's corporate structure, broaden its investor base, and improve its standing with index fund managers.

Sole CEO

In September 2020, Glenn Youngkin announced his departure from The Carlyle Group to pursue other interests, which subsequently included a successful campaign for Governor of Virginia in 2021. With Youngkin's departure, Lee became the sole chief executive officer of Carlyle.

As sole CEO, Lee worked to position Carlyle for growth in an increasingly competitive alternative asset management landscape. In a 2021 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Lee outlined his vision for the firm's rebound and future direction, focusing on expanding Carlyle's credit and insurance-linked investment businesses and leveraging the firm's global platform. Lee also oversaw efforts to expand Carlyle's capabilities in debt and credit investing, including the recruitment of senior talent to lead the firm's credit platform.

During Lee's tenure as sole CEO, Carlyle faced competitive pressures from larger rivals such as Blackstone and Apollo, which had grown their assets under management more rapidly. The firm navigated the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic while seeking to diversify its revenue streams beyond traditional leveraged buyouts.

Departure from Carlyle

In August 2022, Carlyle announced that Lee would depart the firm. The circumstances of his departure were reported by the Financial Times and other outlets, with reporting indicating disagreements between Lee and the firm's board of directors, including its founders, over compensation and the strategic direction of the firm.

Lee's departure marked the end of a nearly decade-long tenure at Carlyle and prompted a leadership search that ultimately resulted in the appointment of Harvey Schwartz, a former president of Goldman Sachs, as his successor.

BellTower Partners (2023–present)

Following his departure from Carlyle, Lee founded BellTower Partners in 2023, a private investment firm through which he pursues investment opportunities across multiple sectors.

In September 2025, BellTower Partners made a strategic growth investment in the United Soccer League (USL), the largest professional soccer organization in the United States by number of clubs. As part of the transaction, Lee was named vice chair of the USL's board of directors. The investment came at a time when the USL was planning to launch a Division One professional league and expand its footprint across the United States.

Lee's investment in the USL was also connected to efforts to bring a professional soccer team and stadium to his hometown of Albany, New York. The Times Union reported that Lee was a central figure in a proposal for a downtown Albany USL stadium, linking his investment in the league to his roots in the capital region.

Personal Life

Lee maintains ties to his hometown of Albany, New York, and has been involved in civic and philanthropic efforts in the region, including the proposal to bring a professional soccer stadium to downtown Albany.

Lee is active in the arts and cultural philanthropy. He serves as the chair of the board of directors of Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. In July 2025, Lincoln Center Theater announced that the artistic director position, held by Lear deBessonet, would be renamed the "Kewsong Lee Artistic Director" in recognition of Lee's contributions as a donor and board chair.

Lee also serves on the board of trustees of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan policy research organization based in Washington, D.C.

Recognition

Lee's career has been the subject of extensive coverage in major financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters. His appointment as co-CEO of The Carlyle Group in 2017, alongside Glenn Youngkin, was one of the most closely watched leadership transitions in the private equity industry, as it marked the first time the firm's founding generation formally handed over operational control.

The naming of the "Kewsong Lee Artistic Director" position at Lincoln Center Theater in 2025 recognized his sustained philanthropic contributions to the performing arts and his leadership of the theater's board.

His 2025 investment in the United Soccer League and appointment as vice chair was covered by Bloomberg, SportsPro, Private Equity Insights, and regional outlets including the Times Union and The Business Journals, reflecting both the significance of the investment and Lee's profile as a former CEO of one of the world's largest alternative asset managers.

Legacy

Lee's career is notable for spanning the evolution of the private equity industry from the early 1990s through the 2020s. His more than two decades at Warburg Pincus and nearly a decade at The Carlyle Group placed him at the center of some of the industry's most consequential developments, including the professionalization of large-scale private equity, the transition of major alternative asset managers from private partnerships to publicly traded corporations, and the growing competition among firms to diversify beyond traditional leveraged buyouts into credit, real estate, and other asset classes.

At Carlyle, Lee's tenure as CEO coincided with a period of intensifying competition among the largest alternative asset managers. His efforts to diversify Carlyle's investment platform and expand its credit business reflected broader industry trends, even as the firm faced challenges in keeping pace with the asset growth of competitors such as Blackstone and Apollo.

Lee's post-Carlyle career through BellTower Partners represents a model increasingly common among former executives of large financial institutions: leveraging accumulated expertise, networks, and capital to pursue a portfolio of investments, board roles, and philanthropic commitments. His involvement with the United Soccer League and efforts to bring professional soccer to Albany demonstrate an engagement with sports business and civic development that extends beyond traditional finance.