Technology >> CEO Interviews >> April 7, 2003
KARL PETERSON, President and CEO of Hotwire.com, first conceived
of the idea for Hotwire in 1999, while a partner with the Texas
Pacific Group (TPG), a leading private equity firm with more than
$10 billion of equity capital under management. In October 2000,
he launched Hotwire with the financial backing of TPG and six of
the nation's largest airlines: American, America West,
Continental, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways. Before Hotwire,
Mr. Peterson spent five years at TPG, and was a lead partner on
many of the firm's investments in early stage companies.
Additionally, he was heavily involved in the investment decisions
and early operations of TPGs highly successful investments in
Paradyne Networks (NASD: PDYN), Globespan Semiconductor (NASD:
GSPN) and Oxford Health Plans (NYSE: OHP). Prior to joining TPG
in 1995, Mr. Peterson was an investment banker for Goldman, Sachs
& Co. in New York, spending three years between the Mergers and
Acquisitions department and the Private Equity Group. He
graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. Profile
overview of Hotwire?
Mr. Peterson: We started Hotwire.com in late 2000 with financial
investments from six major airlines and the
