Eric Doug Becker

Eric Becker is a Chicago-based private-equity investor, entrepreneur, and author with a career spanning more than four decades. He began building companies before graduating from the University of Chicago (where he studied economics), including an early stint interning at Levy Restaurants and co-founding LifeCard International, a medical-records digitization business developed with the help of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maryland. In 1983 he co-founded Sterling Partners, a value-added growth private equity firm where he served for roughly 32 years as Senior Managing Director and Co-Chairman of the Operating Committee. Sterling raised eight funds totaling more than $5.7 billion in capital before Becker stepped back as general partner in 2015.

After leaving day-to-day work at Sterling, Becker founded the Caretta Group in 2015 — the single-family office (also referenced as Caretta Partners) that manages his wealth and channels capital into growth-oriented private companies, real estate, and philanthropy. That same year he also launched Vennpoint, a value-add real estate investment firm. It is through Caretta that his angel activity, including the email [hidden], is organized.

In 2017 Becker co-founded Cresset, a multi-family office and private investment firm where he serves as Founder and Co-Chairman. Cresset has grown rapidly, reporting on the order of $235–250 billion in assets under management/advisement by 2025, with offices in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach.

Beyond investing, Becker is an author and podcast host. In 2025 he published *The Long Game: A Playbook of the World's Most Enduring Companies*, a USA Today bestseller, and hosts *The Long Game Podcast* interviewing founders, CEOs, and multigenerational leaders. He is active in philanthropy and civic life — founding the Karma for Cara Foundation in honor of his daughter Cara, serving on the board of the Positive Coaching Alliance, and receiving the Adams Entrepreneurial Pioneer Award (2016) from UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

• Invests in customer-focused growth companies that have a compelling mission — the stated founding premise of the Caretta Group.
• Angel and early-stage checks alongside growth-equity and real estate activity; documented deals run from seed rounds (e.g., Eastman Egg, 2015) to later fintech rounds (e.g., Envel, 2021).
• Sector interests reflect his Sterling roots: financial services/fintech, healthcare, education, business and consumer services, and technology, plus consumer/restaurant and real estate exposure.
• Long-term orientation: his *The Long Game* framework emphasizes durable, enduring companies and multigenerational value creation over short-term exits — a useful signal for how he evaluates founders and businesses.