At KKR, Nuttall and Bae are favorites to fill founders\\\' shoes

KKR & Co LP's(KKR.N) co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts have indicated they intend to stay at the buyout firm for at least five more years, but two men - Scott Nuttall and Joseph Bae - are emerging as front-runners to eventually succeed them. Interviews with more than half a dozen current and former KKR executives reveal that the firm is likely to preserve the co-chairman and co-chief executive jobs, currently held by Kravis and Roberts. Nuttall, 41, head of the global capital and asset management group, and Bae, 42, who leads the firm's operations in Asia, are now seen within the buyout shop as the most likely people to take those spots, the sources said. Kravis and Roberts, both 70, have kept details of the succession plan a secret even within the firm. The sources, who requested anonymity, based their assessment on their observations of interactions among senior KKR executives, including the founders, and firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the firm, according to Reuters.