Charlie Gailliot Net Worth 2026: KKR Climate Co-Head, Ex-Goldman
Charlie Gailliot left Goldman Sachs in 2023 to co-lead KKR's global climate strategy. No reputable outlet has estimated his net worth.
- Full name
- Charlie Gailliot
- Profession
- Private equity investor, KKR partner
- Nationality
- American
- Source of wealth
- Goldman Sachs and KKR partner compensation, carried interest
In this article
Charlie Gailliot is a partner at KKR and co-head of its global climate strategy, a fund that had raised more than $3.5 billion toward a $7 billion target by August 2026. Before joining KKR in 2023 he spent about 20 years as a private equity investor at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner and ran its energy transition investing team. No reputable publisher, including Forbes, Bloomberg or Celebrity Net Worth, has estimated his net worth, so this page does not give one.
What is Charlie Gailliot's net worth?
An earlier version of this page said $12.5 million, with income of $500,000 a year. Neither figure came from a reputable source, and both have been removed. The page's title also still described him as a Goldman Sachs director, a job he left in 2023.
Senior private equity partners are paid mainly through salary, bonus and carried interest, a share of the profits their funds earn. None of that is disclosed for individual partners at Goldman Sachs or KKR, so there is no public basis for a figure.
Where the money comes from
- Goldman Sachs (about 2003–2023). About two decades as an investor in the merchant banking division, reaching partner.
- KKR (2023–present). Partner and co-head of the global climate strategy, which invests in renewables and storage, electrification, energy efficiency, sustainable fuels, waste and circular-economy businesses.
- Carried interest. As a co-leader of a multibillion-dollar fund, he would normally share in its profits. That income is realized only as investments are sold and has not been reported.
Career at Goldman Sachs
Gailliot spent about 20 years as a private investor in Goldman's merchant banking division, including two years in Hong Kong working on investments across Asia, according to his Economist Impact speaker profile. He sat on the investment committees for corporate equity, infrastructure and climate. Most recently he led the energy transition and diversified industrials teams. Deals under his leadership included Redwood Materials, a battery recycling company; Gridstor and Hydrostor, both energy storage businesses; and Boyd.
The old page said he started as an analyst at Deutsche Bank. We found no source for that, so it has been removed.
KKR global climate strategy
KKR announced Gailliot as co-head of its global climate strategy in August 2023, completing a leadership team with Emmanuel Lagarrigue in New York and Neil Arora in Asia, ESG Today reported. KKR said then that it had made more than $30 billion in climate and environmental sustainability investments since 2010. Raj Agrawal, KKR's head of global infrastructure, said a dedicated climate team would sharpen the firm's focus on scaling net-zero solutions.
His two fellow co-heads came from climate-focused investors: Lagarrigue had been a founding partner of General Atlantic's BeyondNetZero fund, and Arora had led Macquarie's Green Investment Group in Asia-Pacific. Around the same time KKR had set up renewable platforms including Virescent Infrastructure in India, Aster Renewable Energy in Asia and Stellar Renewable Power.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| About 2003 | Joins Goldman Sachs merchant banking |
| Later years | Partner; leads energy transition and diversified industrials investing |
| August 2023 | Joins KKR as partner and global climate co-head |
| 2023 | KKR brings its first dedicated climate vehicle to market |
| November 2024 | Speaks at an Economist Impact event on sustainable finance during COP29 |
| 2026 | ALTÉRRA commits to the strategy; fund passes $3.5 billion |
Recent changes (2025–2026)
In August 2026 KKR's climate strategy passed $3.5 billion toward a $7 billion target, OneStop ESG reported, citing New Private Markets. The earlier climate vehicle had passed $2.7 billion. Backers include ALTÉRRA, the climate investment vehicle launched at COP28 with a $30 billion commitment from the United Arab Emirates. The strategy is co-led by Gailliot and Lagarrigue. KKR says it has invested more than $44 billion in climate and environmental sustainability since 2011.
Fundraising success matters for a fund leader's income: management fees grow with the size of the fund, and carried interest depends on its returns.
Education and personal life
Gailliot has a degree in economics and a certificate in finance from Princeton University, according to his Economist Impact profile. The old page also named Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh. We could not confirm that, so it is not repeated here. The old page's generic description of an unnamed wife, and its claim that he later moved into education and consulting, had no source and have been removed.
Net worth compared
Other finance executives profiled here include Charlie Amato and Brett Jefferson. Unlike founders, fund leaders like Gailliot rarely have a single visible stake that can be valued. Their wealth builds up through years of compensation and profit shares that stay private.
Why no figure is given
A reliable estimate would need his Goldman partner pay and investments over 20 years, his KKR compensation, and his share of carried interest in the climate fund. None of that is public. We will add a figure if Forbes, Bloomberg or a major newspaper publishes one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Charlie Gailliot's net worth?
No reputable publisher has estimated Charlie Gailliot's net worth. He was a partner at Goldman Sachs and now co-leads KKR's global climate strategy, but private equity pay and carried interest for individual partners are not disclosed, so no reliable figure exists.
What does Charlie Gailliot do at KKR?
He is a partner and co-head of KKR's global climate strategy, which invests in renewables, storage, electrification, energy efficiency, sustainable fuels and circular-economy businesses. He joined KKR in August 2023.
Did Charlie Gailliot work at Goldman Sachs?
Yes. He spent about 20 years in Goldman Sachs' merchant banking division, became a partner, and most recently led its energy transition and diversified industrials investing teams, with deals including Redwood Materials and Hydrostor.
Where did Charlie Gailliot go to college?
He earned a degree in economics with a certificate in finance from Princeton University, according to his Economist Impact speaker profile.
How big is KKR's climate fund?
KKR's global climate strategy had raised more than $3.5 billion toward a $7 billion target by August 2026. Backers include ALTÉRRA, the UAE-backed climate investment vehicle launched at COP28.
