Kewsong Lee

Kewsong Lee (born August 12, 1965) is an American businessman, who was chief executive officer (CEO) of The Carlyle Group from 2018 to 2022. He founded BellTower Partners in 2023 and in 2025 became the vice chair of the United Soccer League.

Lee started his career in private equity at Warburg Pincus in 1992 before joining Carlyle in 2013. In 2018, Lee and Glenn Youngkin became co-CEOs, succeeding Bill Conway and David Rubenstein. After Youngkin left the firm in 2020, Lee became sole CEO. Lee departed the company in 2022.

Early life and education Lee was born in Albany, New York on August 12, 1965. He is of Korean descent. His father, Hak Chong Lee, was a professor at Yonsei University.

Due to his father's role as a college professor and involvement in the United Nations, Lee would spend his early years in South Korea and Singapore.

Lee attended Harvard College where he received an A.B. in applied mathematics in economics, graduating in 1986. He spent two years there before leaving in 1988 to attend Harvard Business School.

From 2009 to 2017, Lee was a lead director at Arch Capital Group as well as a board member for other firms such as Transdigm and Aramark.

In 2018, Lee and Glenn Youngkin became co-chief executive officers, succeeding the founders who remained on the executive board. As co-chief executive officers, Lee oversaw the firm's corporate private equity and global credit businesses, while Youngkin oversaw Carlyle's real estate, energy, infrastructure, and investment solutions businesses.

In 2019, Lee and Youngkin oversaw the firm's transition from a publicly traded partnership into a corporation.

In July 2020, Youngkin stepped down from his role at Carlyle, making Lee the sole chief executive officer of the firm. According to Bloomberg, though the partnership was intended as equals, Lee ran the company's largest businesses and took initiative while Youngkin's business lines stalled.

As CEO, Lee reorganized the company and invested in new sectors like credit, real estate, and insurance to diversify the company away from its private equity roots. Carlyle's ratio of credit assets to total assets increased from 17% in January 2018 to 38% in June 2022. According to Reuters, under Lee's leadership, Carlyle made progress in core performance metrics, but still lagged rivals such as Blackstone and KKR. Sources linked the departure to multiple reasons. The founders wanted more control over the company than what Lee wanted. Bloomberg News said the poor performance of the company's stock price prompted the founders to act. BellTower bought a share of Patricof Co, a private equity firm catering to professional athlete investors. Lee became the vice chair of the United Soccer League in September 2025 after BellTower announced a strategic investment in the league.

Personal life Lee is married to Zita Ezpeleta and they have two children. Ezpeleta is an attorney who previously practiced at Sidley Austin.