It’s Always Sunny at the Davos of the Private Equity Industry

Berlin’s Tegel Airport is a Cold War throwback, hailing from the time before travelers had to go through perfume shops, luxury stores, and immense food courts to board a flight. It’s too small to comfortably serve the now hip and hopping capital of Germany—there aren’t that many direct flights from the U.S.—but that doesn’t stop the crowds from coming.

And each year in late February, Tegel welcomes a particularly exclusive set of visitors: Some fly in on private jets; others straggle in through connections, feeling ragged though still dressed in expensive jeans and Allbirds. They’ve booked as many as 20 back-to-back 30-minute meetings for each of the next four days, encounters that have been described as Wall Street speed dating.