Michael Arougheti knew he’d have to give up his Yankees fandom. That was the cost of buying into the Baltimore Orioles. But for the CEO of Ares Management, the symbolic shift from fan to owner wasn’t just about baseball. It was another move in a long play, one rooted in scale, strategy, and the quiet reshaping of global finance.
Ares Management, once a niche credit shop inside Apollo, now sits near the top of a $2.5 trillion private credit industry. The firm has its sights set on $750 billion in assets under management, with nearly half already amassed through its dominant credit platform.
Its secret? A leadership model that would look chaotic from the outside, and has worked spectacularly from within.
Unlike most firms with a single, iconic leader, Ares Management runs on a distributed braintrust. Arougheti is the public face, but key decisions are shaped by co-presidents Kipp deVeer and Blair Jacobson, along with credit co-heads Mitchell Goldstein and Michael Smith.
The five began their careers in finance. They rose up through Indosuez Capital and RBC in the 90s, forming a bond out of deals and fantasy baseball. That trust, says Arougheti, is now built-in to the way the firm scales. “There’s a psychological benefit that helps us culturally,” he says.
From sleek offices in Manhattan’s 245 Park Avenue, they drive strategy side by side, literally. Everyone except Jacobson, who operates from London, works from adjacent suites.
The structure might resemble KKR’s co-CEO setup, but at Ares Management, the cohesion feels more personal. “I was at Kipp’s wedding,” Arougheti says. “Our kids grew up together.”
What launched the company into the top tier wasn’t buyouts, it was lending. When the financial crisis hit and banks pulled back, they leaned in. While others paused, they called their clients: We’re open for business.
Instead of competing against Apollo or KKR for deals, the company loaned them the money to do it. Quietly, it became a crucial middleman in private markets. As banks retreated due to tighter regulations, firms like Ares Management stepped in with capital, speed, and flexibility.
That positioning paid off. The firm now manages roughly $360 billion in private credit alone, issuing loans to midsize companies, offering flexible debt structures, and sometimes even taking small equity stakes.
Deeper relationships, better terms, fewer competitors, especially when scale is the moat.
Private equity giants dream of $1 trillion in assets. Ares Management isn’t far off. Its 2028 target of $750 billion is ambitious but deliberate. The firm recently doubled its real estate portfolio with a nearly $4 billion acquisition and continues to push into Asia, Latin America, and infrastructure.
“Every time you think a market is mature, another $2 trillion opportunity appears,” says Arougheti.
This expansion is powered by geography and discipline. Hiring Jacobson in Europe back in 2012 gave Ares Management its international springboard. Now, the firm is deploying capital across continents. Sticking to credit, where it has a long-term edge.
Jacobson puts it plainly: “Scale is unbelievably powerful.”
Finance may be Ares Management’ foundation, but sports could be its representation. Arougheti and his colleagues joined David Rubenstein, Cal Ripken Jr., and Michael Bloomberg in buying the Orioles. That led to a stake in the Miami Dolphins, the first time a private equity firm gained league approval for such a deal.
The firm also launched a $4 billion sports and entertainment fund. It was born from a pandemic brainstorm, with partners watching The Last Dance and realizing stadiums would need liquidity.
“It was always a way to get people away from their office,” Smith says. “You could build a friendship away from just a business relationship.”
Now, sports isn’t just a side project. It’s an asset class.
Private credit is booming, but so is scrutiny. Critics warn of opacity, especially since these firms aren’t subject to the same disclosure rules as banks. No one truly knows how healthy the companies borrowing from private funds really are.
Then there’s the competition. Everyone wants into private credit. “There’s a ton of copycats,” says Duke Law professor Elisabeth de Fontenay. “It’s close to being unregulated. That’s why it’s exploding.”
But Ares Management’ founders argue it’s not just about access, it’s about experience. Building scale takes time, and newer players haven’t earned the trust, relationships, or talent.
For now, Ares Management holds the high ground. The firm isn’t just growing, it’s dominating. And doing so on its own terms.
As Arougheti puts it: “No one is really making any traction or inroads into taking share from the incumbents.”
Not yet, anyway.
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