The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 11:30:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Succession Planning in Private Equity: A Strategic Imperative for GPs and LPs – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Succession Planning in Private Equity: A Strategic Imperative for GPs and LPs https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/02/21/succession-planning-in-private-equity-a-strategic-imperative-for-gps-and-lps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=succession-planning-in-private-equity-a-strategic-imperative-for-gps-and-lps https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/02/21/succession-planning-in-private-equity-a-strategic-imperative-for-gps-and-lps/#respond Sat, 21 Feb 2026 12:30:52 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=179280?d=20260220161858EST Posted by Emily Taylor, Heather Hammond, and Courtney Byrne, Russell Reynolds Associates, on Saturday, February 21, 2026
Editor's Note:

Emily Taylor and Heather Hammond are Consultants, and Courtney Byrne is an Associate at Russell Reynolds Associates. This post is based on their Russell Reynolds memorandum.

Private equity (PE) has expanded to an unprecedented scale, with industry assets under management exceeding $15.5 trillion and global buyout firms holding $1.2 trillion in dry powder.[1] Yet despite this growth, complexity, and institutional scrutiny, leadership models have remained largely unchanged, and general partner (GP) turnover remains exceptionally low.

Academic research indicates that only around 6% of GP leaders transition over a five-year period, vs. turnover rates above 50% over comparable horizons for public company CEOs.[2] What was once viewed as a marker of stability is increasingly revealing a different risk: the concentration of authority, economics, and client relationships in a small number of people, amplifying key-person risk.

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