John Connaughton Bain Capital

John Connaughton is chair of Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm with roughly $225 billion in assets under management. Discussion begins with John’s childhood in Baltimore and the pace set by his Irish emigre parents. College at UVA and business school at Harvard followed. John joined Bain in 1989, an early employee in the private equity effort that spun out of the Bain & Co. management consulting firm. He and the hosts take a fast-paced tour through early days at Bain Capital, the mindset of Mitt Romney and other leaders, his ascent in the practice, John’s own tenure in leadership, and Bain’s determination to remain private even as its peers entered the public market. One constant theme: the pursuit of extraordinary returns on every deal.