Exchanges Paid to Sweat: Centerbridge's Jeff Aronson on the Growth of Private Markets
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Aug 19, 2025 
Jeff Aronson, co-founder and managing principal of Centerbridge Partners, shares his inspiring journey from law to finance during a market crash. He discusses the evolution of distressed investing, the founding of Centerbridge, and the importance of mentoring in building successful partnerships. Exploring current trends in alternative assets, he highlights the role of debtor-in-possession loans and initiatives to promote diversity in finance. Aronson also reflects on his leadership style and personal investment insights, emphasizing adaptability in a changing market.
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From Lawyer To Investor
- Jeff Aronson left law after L.F. Rothschild's collapse and joined Angelo, Gordon, and Michael's new firm to work on proprietary capital.
- He volunteered to work for free to prove he could do the math and loved investing like solving puzzles.
How Distressed Investing Matured
- Distressed investing was a backwater in the late 1980s with few institutional players and mostly high-net-worth capital.
- The early 1990s recession and later crises professionalized and institutionalized the distressed market.
Private Credit's Structural Shift
- After the GFC banks retreated and direct lending filled the vacuum, private credit shifted from secondary trading to primary origination.
- CenterBridge's opportunistic credit now splits roughly half primary origination and half secondary market bets.