Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win

The first true insider’s account of private equity, revealing what it takes to thrive among the world’s hungriest dealmakers

“Brilliant . . . eloquently takes readers inside the heroic world of private equity . . . [an] essential read.”—Forbes

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Next Big Idea Club

Private equity was once an investment niche. Today, the wealth controlled by its leading firms surpasses the GDP of some nations. Private equity has overtaken investment banking—and well-known names like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley—as the premier destination for ambitious financial talent, as well as the investment dollars of some of the world’s largest pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments. At the industry’s pinnacle are the firms’ partners, happy to earn “two and twenty”—that is, a flat yearly fee of 2 percent of a fund’s capital, on top of 20 percent of the investment spoils.

Private equity has succeeded in near-stealth—until now. In Two and Twenty, Sachin Khajuria, a former partner at Apollo, gives readers an unprecedented view inside this opaque global economic engine, which plays a vital role underpinning our retirement systems. From illuminating the rituals of firms’ all-powerful investment committees to exploring key precepts (“think like a principal, not an advisor”), Khajuria brings the traits, culture, and temperament of the industry’s leading practitioners to life through a series of vivid and unvarnished deal sketches.

Two and Twenty is an unflinching examination of the mindset that drives the world’s most aggressive financial animals to consistently deliver market-beating returns.

Sachin Khajuria is Founder & CIO at Achilles, a private investment business utilizing proprietary AI technology. He has thirty years of investment experience and is a limited partner in funds managed by Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle, Silver Lake, Goldman Sachs, and other firms. A retired partner at Apollo, where he led investments for the flagship global funds in private equity, distressed debt and special situations, Khajuria is the bestselling author of Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win, published by the Crown Currency imprint of Penguin Random House and translated into multiple foreign languages. Khajuria graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Master’s Honors degree in economics. He is a member of Trinity College, where his thesis on volatility and risk in financial markets won the Adam Smith Prize.