Michael Fisch is a founder and the CEO of American Securities, a $23 billion private equity firm that originated in the Rosenwald family office.  This is a great story of a fabled family office turning their investment DNA into a thriving private equity firm by buying market-leading businesses.  William Rosenwald, son of Julius Rosenwald who built Sears Roebuck, started the family office back in the 1940s, investing in private companies.  Michael’s mentor, Chuck Klein, took them to the next level in the 1980s and offered a role to 30-year-old Michael, who turned around and proposed building what became American Securities today.  We talk about their first acquisition, why they seek out market leaders, the growth of the firm, and overcoming bottlenecks, and their unique resource group that creates efficiencies and growth in their underlying companies.

Before founding American Securities, he was a partner in two private equity funds, a consultant in the Paris office of Bain & Company, and a professional in the mergers and acquisitions department of Goldman Sachs.

Michael received a BA in Economics and Policy Studies from Dartmouth College, where he is a Member of the President’s Leadership Council, and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he has been a guest lecturer since 2006. Michael serves as a Director of the 1162 Foundation, a Member of the Atlantic Council’s Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and Chairman of the Advisory Council of its Freedom and Prosperity Center, a Member of the Board of Trustees of Northwell Health, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Princeton Theological Seminary.

He has authored a number of articles and appeared as a guest on national television programs, all on private equity and investing.

Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Fisch.

American Securities:  https://www.american-securities.com/en/team/michael-fisch

Circulus Substack:  https://circulus.substack.com/

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Joe Reilly is the head of Circulus Group, a family office network, and the host of The Inheritance Podcast.

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