Thomas Darden

Business leader, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Investor, Philanthropist, Potential employer, Social entrepreneur

In 1983, I left Bain and Company in Boston to acquire failing brick companies. I converted them from fossil fuels to biomass, reducing cost and CO2 emissions. The plant sites were polluted, so I funded professors to develop bacteria for cleaning up contaminated soil. This led to the formation of Cherokee Environmental Group, which sold bacteria and also remediated polluted sites. The bacteria research project also led to the creation of Cherokee's angel/venture business, reinvesting proceeds from early deals into other transactions. We do not have a fund for this, but have reinvested the same capital into 211 deals between 1985 and 2017. Our core focus has been environmental technologies, motivated by a childhood interest in pollution. My early education focused on environmental issues--masters in urban environmental planning at Chapel Hill and Yale Law School, because I intended to become an environmental lawyer. One of our largest venture projects involves fusion. I have funded 12 different fusion teams around the world working on alternative fusion energy, with occasional steps forward. While the odds of success with such a moonshot are not high, I felt it was worth committing substantial resources to find a better solution to atmospheric CO2. I serve as the CEO of this company, called IH or Industrial Heat. When the banking crisis struck in 1990, we began buying and cleaning up polluted sites, or brownfields. Ultimately, we bought 525 properties in the U.S., Europe and Canada. We began raising institutional capital in 1995 and then raised four more funds over the next ten years, of $250mm, $620mm, $200mm and $1.2bb, with the latter two funds closing in 2006. We are managing and remediating sites now in CA, TX, NC, and DC. We built the first two LEED Platinum buildings in our state and have invested in technologies and processes to improve the environmental impact of our projects, including smart grid systems.

Urban redevelopment, alternative energy, green building and race relations

Why do business investors and founders want to "exit"? Furthermore, why do people with wherewithal desire liquidity? Our most talented business people are driven to the sidelines by selling their company and investing in liquid markets. Liquidity gives us a false sense of security because we believe it leads to control over our future. In fact, it leads to attachment and fear.

energy efficiency, green building, Pollution cleanup, Private equity fund management, real estate redevelopment

Being a member of a family