I came across an article about a certain Carlyle Group buying some firms in Turkey, including a 50% stake in the shipbuilder TVK Shipyard. Out of interest, I looked up the Carlyle Group.

Wikipedia tells me that it is a global private equity investment firm based in Washington, D.C. with more than USD 81.1 billion of equity capital under management. It also has/had some illustrious members.

Business

G. Allen Andreas – Chairman of the Archer Daniels Midland Company

Daniel Akerson – company director

Joaquin Avila – investment banker

Laurent Beaudoin – CEO of Bombardier (1979-)

Paul Desmarais – Chairman of the Power Corporation of Canada

Arthur Levitt – former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Karl Otto P̦hl Рformer President of the Bundesbank

Olivier Sarkozy (half-brother of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France) – co-head and managing director of its recently launched global financial services division, since March 2008.

Jeffrey Chen- CEO of ASE-Taiwan

Jason Chen- Chairman of ASE Group

Political figures

North America

George H. W. Bush, former U.S. President, Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003.

George W. Bush, current U.S. President. Was appointed in 1990 to the Board of Directors of one of Carlyle’s first acquisitions, an airline food business called Caterair, which Carlyle eventually sold at a loss. Bush left the board in 1992 to run for Governor of Texas.

James Baker III, former United States Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Carlyle Senior Counselor, served in this capacity from 1993 to 2005.

Frank C. Carlucci, former United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989; Also, former Princeton wrestling partner of former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Carlyle Chairman and Chairman Emeritus from 1989 to 2005.

Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group from 1993 to the present.

Randal K. Quarles, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under President George W. Bush, now a Carlyle managing director.

Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the United States (1981-89) and member of Carlyle’s Canadian advisory board.

William Kennard, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle’s Managing Director in the Telecommunications & Media Group from 2001 to the present.

Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2001 to the present

Mack McLarty, White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2003 to the present

Dan Senor – political consultant

Peter Lougheed – Premier of Alberta (1971-85)

Luis Téllez Kuenzler, Mexican economist, current Secretary of Communications and Transportation under the Felipe Calderón administration and former Secretary of Energy under the Zedillo administration.

Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador to the United States and former member of Carlyle’s Canadian advisory board

George Soros, American financial speculator, stock investor, philanthropist, and political activist.

Europe

John Major, former British Prime Minister, Chairman, Carlyle Europe from 2002 until 2005

Asia

Liu Hong-Ru, former chairman of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission

Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand (twice), former member of the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board until the board was disbanded in 2004

Fidel V. Ramos, former president of the Philippines, Carlyle Asia Advisor Board Member until the board was disbanded in 2004

Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, former member of board, who resigned on taking office in 2001

Middle East

Shafig bin Laden, older brother of Osama bin Laden

Media

Norman Pearlstine – editor-in-chief of Time magazine from (1995-2005)