From the very first deals we did at EGI, I have spread the opportunity — both the risks and the rewards. We co-invest, side by side, and I often prov… - Sam Zell

Further, as a huge perpetual consumer of capital, I respected the fact that there is no more consistent source of capital than the public markets.

Some emerging markets will check all the boxes — strong population growth, growing middle class, verge of investment grade, great leadership, and hunger for capital — and then be missing the one ingredient that enables you to monetize your investment: scale. Without scale, you don’t have liquidity. You have no optionality. In essence, you’re stuck. Africa is a great example. I think many countries, such as Botswana, have potential, but the upper and middle classes are too small for me to get involved. Chile is another example. It has the institutions and leadership, but only 17 million people — no scale.

But by the end, we had raised over $1 billion. I think it was the largest fund of its kind at the time. We focused on turning around companies that had taken on excessive debt in the 1980s. We contributed our own capital in order to align our interests with those of our investors, and we didn’t charge fees on each acquisition like many leveraged-buyout firms did. Instead, we used the funds to share risk with our investors — and to share opportunities. We had a stated objective of holding our investments for ten to twelve years.