When Continental Airlines, one of the most maligned passenger carriers in history, was headed into bankruptcy in 1993, moneyman David Bonderman rushed in with Texas Pacific Group, like a team of trauma surgeons, to give it a $66 million transfusion. A year later, the group pumped in $40 million to save America West. So when US Airways filed for bankruptcy last week, guess who pulled $200 million out of their first-aid kit to help revive the sixth largest U.S. carrier? Bonderman's boys.
Find the sickest company you can, and the odds are good that Texas Pacific wants a hand in healing...