The 25 Largest Private Equity Firms in One Chart

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Frequent the business section of your favorite newspaper long enough, and you’ll see mentions of private equity (PE).

Maybe it’s because a struggling company got bought out and taken private, just as Toys “R” Us did in 2005 for $6.6 billion.

Otherwise, it’s likely a mention of a major investment (or payout) that a PE firm scored through venture or growth capital. For example, after Airbnb had to postpone its original plans for a 2020 initial public offering (IPO) in light of the pandemic, the company raised more than $1 billion in PE funding to plan for a new listing later this year.

Yet many people don’t fully understand the size and scope of private equity. To demonstrate the impact of PE, this infographic breaks down the funds raised by the top 25 firms over the last five years.

For editorial use only.

Visualization type: Infographic

The 25 Largest Private Equity Firms in One Chart

Frequent the business section of your favorite newspaper long enough, and you’ll see mentions of private equity (PE).

Maybe it’s because a struggling company got bought out and taken private, just as Toys “R” Us did in 2005 for $6.6 billion.

Otherwise, it’s likely a mention of a major investment (or payout) that a PE firm scored through venture or growth capital. For example, after Airbnb had to postpone its original plans for a 2020 initial public offering (IPO) in light of the pandemic, the company raised more than $1 billion in PE funding to plan for a new listing later this year.

Yet many people don’t fully understand the size and scope of private equity. To demonstrate the impact of PE, this infographic breaks down the funds raised by the top 25 firms over the last five years.


First published: November 4, 2020 (link)

Source files included: .ai, .eps, .pdf

Data source: Private Equity International

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