Leaders on a Mission - Dexter Paine III, Chairman and Co-founder of Paine Schwartz + Co, Episode 3

In todays episode I was joined by Dexter Paine III, Chairman and Co-founder of Paine Schwartz + Co, a preeminent Private Equity firm investing in sustainable food and Agriculture systems. 

Dexter manages to combine the love of his day job with that of an avid sports and ski enthusiast, serving as chairman of the US Winter Olympics governing body. He talks of his passion for the sport and how he effectively manages these competing time consuming commitments. 

Dexter outlines his career prior to co-founding Paine Schwartz, and the huge influence Jerry Kohlberg (Founder, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) was on his professional career and how he approaches the Private Equity industry today. He talks about the historical barriers to entry in the food Agriculture markets and how these have changed in recent years. He explores the attraction of the complexity of the food and ag value chain, and the rationale for co-founding the firm with his partner Kevin Schwartz.  He talks about Paine Schwartz’s  approach to deal flow and sustainable investing, as well as the current view on valuations within the marketplace.  He explains about the current Fund , and some of the recent investments, as well as outlining what they look for when deploying capital from their current fund of $1.45 Billion, as well as their approach to hiring talent.