James Coulter | $1B+

Billionaire

Nov 13

Get in touch with James Coulter | James Coulter, cofounder and executive chairman of TPG, is one of the most influential figures in global private equity. Since launching the firm in 1992 with David Bonderman, he has helped build TPG into a diversified investment powerhouse with hundreds of billions in assets under management across buyouts, growth equity, impact investing, real estate, and credit. Known for his strategic vision and early bets on sectors from airlines to healthcare and technology, Coulter has shaped modern private equity while championing initiatives such as TPG Rise, one of the largest impact investment platforms in the world.

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James Coulter (born December 1, 1959) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder of private equity firm TPG Inc., originally known as the Texas Pacific Group.

Early life and education

Coulter was born on December 1, 1959,[1] and raised in a Methodist family, the son of Shirley (née Nagler) and James W. Coulter.[2][3] His father was a chemical salesman for Chevron.[2] He is a graduate of Shawnee High School in Medford, New Jersey.[4] He graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, where he was also a member of Alpha Chi Alpha. He subsequently earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1986, where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Career

In 1992, Coulter co-founded the Fort Worth and San Francisco-based private equity firm TPG along with David Bonderman.[5] He served as co-CEO from 2014 through 2021 alongside Jon Winkelried.[6] In 2021, Coulter became executive chair of TPG and assumed responsibility for TPG's climate investing initiatives, including as Managing Partner of TPG Rise Climate.[7] TPG went public in January 2022, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “TPG”.[8]

Prior to co-founding TPG in 1992, Coulter and the other co-founders worked for Robert M. Bass. Coulter joined the Robert M. Bass Group from Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb.[9][10]

Coulter has been involved in some of the largest leveraged buyout transactions on record including TPG's marquee transaction, the takeover of Continental Airlines in 1993. He has been involved with TPG's investments in America West Airlines, Burger King, Del Monte Foods, J. Crew,[11] Ducati Motor Holding, Gemplus International, MEMC, ON Semiconductor, Oxford Health Plans,[12][13] Petco[14][15] and Seagate Technology.

He is the founder of the Coulter IDEApitch at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (often referred to as NOEW).[16] Winners of Coulter IDEApitch competition receive a $100,000 investment towards their next round of funding. Winners include Servato, an Industrial Internet of Things technology company (2015 winner);[17] Acrew, a video interviewing HR tech product (2017 winner);[18] and AxoSim, a pharmaceutical research company (2018 winner).[19]

In 2020, Forbes ranked him No. 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.[20]

Memberships

Coulter serves as a member on numerous boards:

Creative Artists Agency
IMS Health
Vincraft Group
Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
Stanford University board of trustees
Common Sense Media
San Francisco University High School
America West Holdings
Northwest Airlines
Oxford Health Plans Inc.
Genesis Health Ventures Inc.
Virata Corporation
San Francisco Zoological Society
Bay Area Discovery Museum
San Francisco Day School[21]

Personal life

Coulter is married to Penny Saer from New Orleans.[22][23] They have three children.[

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James Coulter, cofounder and executive chairman of TPG, is one of the most influential figures in global private equity. Since launching the firm in 1992 with David Bonderman, he has helped build TPG into a diversified investment powerhouse with hundreds of billions in assets under management across buyouts, growth equity, impact investing, real estate, and credit. Known for his strategic vision and early bets on sectors from airlines to healthcare and technology, Coulter has shaped modern private equity while championing initiatives such as TPG Rise, one of the largest impact investment platforms in the world.

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ManUSABillionaireInvestmentsJames CoulterJim CoulterSagittarius1950-1960TPG CapitalTPGPrivate EquityRobert BassLeveraged buyoutsContinental AirlinesSan FranciscoCaliforniaDartmouth CollegeStanford Graduate School of Business

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​James Coulter | $1B+

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