The transformer

If his firm can't change it, Donald Gogel won't buy it. The CEO of New York buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice oversees an investment team that has since 1978 combined financial acumen with roll-upyour-sleeves operating work. It is an investment model now pursued by almost every major private equity firm, but Gogel argues that few firms are as committed to the granularity of operational change as is Clayton Dubilier. The former Rhodes scholar spoke recently with David Snow about standing out from the competition, his firm's stepped up co-investment activity and his days as a New York City streetballer.