of Henry Hillman and the Hillman Company. By 1978, with the revision of the ERISA regulations, the nascent KKR was successful in raising its first institutional fund with approximately $30 million of investor commitments. Kohlberg & Company In 1987 Kohlberg resigned from KKR over differences in strategy and Henry Kravis and George Roberts assumed full leadership of the firm. Kohlberg did not favor the large buyouts (which would likely have included the 1989 takeover of RJR Nabisco) or hostile takeovers. Instead, Kohlberg chose to return to his roots, acquiring smaller, middle-market companies and, in 1987, founded a new private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. As of the end of 2007 Kohlberg & Company had raised six private equity funds since its inception, with approximately $3.7 billion of investor commitments. Additionally, Kohlberg also operated a series of debt investment funds under the banner of Katonah Debt Advisors, as well as a publicly traded investment vehicle Kohlberg Capital (NASDAQ:KCAP). Kohlberg retired from Kohlberg & Company in 1994. Kohlberg died of cancer on July 30, 2015, on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, twenty days after his 90th birthday. Philanthropy Kohlberg participated in philanthropy through the Kohlberg Foundation. See also List of billionaires History of private equity and venture capital References External links Kohlberg Foundation Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People (2004) Kohlberg's entry on Forbes 2006 list 1925 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American billionaires American chairpersons of corporations American chief executives of financial services companies American financial company founders American financiers American investors American money managers Bear Stearns people Businesspeople from New Rochelle, New York Columbia Law School alumni Harvard Business School alumni Jewish American philanthropists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Philanthropists from New York (state) Private equity and venture capital investors Swarthmore College alumni 20th-century American philanthropists United States Navy personnel of World War II Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts 21st-century American Jews New Rochelle High School alumni