KKR’s Henry Kravis rejected Alisa Wood in 2003 with a letter; 22 years later after receiving an unexpected call, the MBA graduate became co-CEO of a KKR investment vehicle

Alisa Wood, who is a co-CEO of a KKR investment vehicle, was rejected by KKR’s Henry Kravis, company's cofounder and the then-chief executive officer. Around 24 to 48 hours later, another partner at the investment giant KKR called and asked her to come for a meeting. Wood, who holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Columbia University, looked to pursue a career in finance to be able to pay off her significant student loan debt by the age of 30.

KKR job application

In a 'blind résumé and a pitch book', Alisa Wood applied to KKR. The message said, 'Here's why you should hire me, and here's how you can think about private equity differently.', Wood told Business Insider. Wood is currently the co-CEO of KKR Private Equity Conglomerate, LLC. It is one of the flagship private equity vehicles of the KKR.


Before college, she also got trained as a professional ballerina. She has said that ballet taught her to treat a 'no' as a challenge instead of a final answer. Although Wood initially had an interest in government and public service, she reconsidered her career path due to the substantial student loans. She looked toward finance to give her a fighting chance to be able to pay her debt.

Instead of sending a conventional application to the KKR, Wood took an unusually direct approach and sent KKR a blind résumé and a pitch book. She explained why the company should hire her and also offered her perspective on how to think about private equity differently. She tried to get the firm's attention in an innovative way.

Henry Kravis letter

Instead of a standard HR rejection, Wood was told that there were no executive positions available within KKR's portfolio companies at the time by the KKR's co-founder and then-CEO Henry Kravis. Wood has kept the letter as it is not that someone receives a rejection letter from Henry Kravis every day.

Around 24–48 hours later, another KKR partner called and asked her to come in for a conversation on receiving the same pitch book as she had sent the mail to several people at KKR. Wood has spent more than two decades with KKR and also worked in Deutsche Bank's private-equity group earlier.