The story
Founded by Eric M. Warburg and Lionel Pincus in 1939, in New York City.1
Founding and early history
In 1939, Eric Warburg of the Warburg banking family founded a company under the name E.M. Warburg & Co. Its first address was 52 William Street, New York, the Kuhn Loeb building. Throughout the early post-war period, the firm was a small office of 20 employees. In 1966, E.M. Warburg merged with Lionel I. Pincus & Co, forming a new company that eventually became known as E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co. In 1965, when Eric Warburg retired to Germany, control was handed to Lionel Pincus, a partner in the Ladenburg Thalmann investment bank, and the working language of the office switched from German to English.
In 1967, John Vogelstein, a former partner at Lazard Freres, joined Pincus to build the firm. Together they developed a strategy of investing in diversified companies of various sizes rather than focusing on start-ups. Pincus was the founder and chairman while Vogelstein was vice chairman and then president. Pincus and Vogelstein ran the company until 2002, when they stepped down and appointed Charles Kaye and Joseph P. Landy as co-presidents. Pincus died in 2009.
Warburg Pincus began investing in Europe in 1983 and opened its first office in Asia in 1994. It has invested more than $5 billion in Europe; more than $3 billion in India and more than $3.3 billion in China. The firm is headquartered in New York and has offices in Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, the Middle East, Mumbai, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo, with administrative offices in Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Mauritius.
The firm is structured as a global partnership led by chief executive officer Jeffrey Perlman, who was promoted from president to CEO in 2024. Charles R. "Chip" Kaye, who was CEO for 22 years, transitioned to co-chairman alongside Timothy Geithner.
Initial public offerings
As of July 2025, its portfolio companies had completed more than 190 initial public offerings on more than 24 exchanges. In August 2010, a six-year partnership between management and Warburg Pincus led to MEG Energy's successful IPO.
Funds
Warburg Pincus has a history of venture capital investing. The firm is a founding member of the venture capital associations in the U.S. and China, and offers a global entrepreneur in residence program to help start up new businesses.
In October 2014, Reuters reported that Warburg Pincus had raised $4 billion for its first energy-focused private equity fund. In late 2018, Warburg Pincus closed its Warburg Pincus Global Growth, L.P. fund at $14.8 billion, and in June 2019, closed its Warburg Pincus China-Southeast Asia II, L.P. fund at $4.25 billion.
In April 2023, Warburg Pincus and ArchiMed agreed to sell the France-headquartered business Polyplus to life science group Sartorius for approximately €2.4 billion.
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Fight over the Warburg name
During the post-war period, Eric Warburg vied with his cousin Siegmund Warburg, founder of S.G. Warburg, over the use of the Warburg name in New York. Siegmund wished to expand the S.G. Warburg franchise into New York but was blocked by the existence of E.M. Warburg & Co. Following the effective sale of the business to Pincus, Siegmund Warburg accused Eric of prostituting the Warburg name. "Complicating matters was that Siegmund thought Pincus the wrong kind of Jew—of Eastern European ancestry, with a garment-district background. Professionally, he thought Pincus well below haute banque stature in the venture capital world."
In January 1970, Siegmund finally got the name changed to E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Company to differentiate it from S.G. Warburg & Company. "In the end, however, Lionel Pincus had the last laugh on Siegmund. He expanded Eric's tiny firm into a giant, thriving business, with three and a half billion dollars of venture capital partnerships."
In 1999, they attempted to purchase English Premier League association football club Everton.
From Wikipedia’s article on Warburg Pincus, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4