How Private Equity & Leverage Buyouts Changed Business

Wharton professor Michael Roberts reflects on the history, impact, and future of private equity and leveraged buyouts as part of Knowledge at Wharton's "American Business Innovation" series ahead of the USA's 250th anniversary. Learn how private equity and leveraged buyouts reshaped business by improving corporate governance, driving operational change, and creating long-term value.

Roberts is the William H. Lawrence Professor and Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an affiliate of the Institute for Law and Economics and the Wharton Financial Institutions Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

His research spans corporate finance, banking, and investments. More recently, he has turned his attention to the intersection of AI + machine learning and finance, and financial education. He has served on more than half a dozen journal editorial boards, including the Journal of Finance of which he was a co-editor.

ABOUT THE SERIES As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, hear from Wharton faculty experts as they explore the American business innovations that transformed industries, reshaped markets, and changed the way the world works. From the assembly line and modern branding to the internet and artificial intelligence, this series examines the ideas and institutions that helped define American enterprise and continue to influence business today.

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