Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast
Today on Dry Powder, my guest is a pioneer in the realm of infrastructure investing: Michael Dorrell, chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Stonepeak. Mike has weathered just about every cycle of this asset class, from the classic port and road deals of the late nineties to the crash of 2008. At a time when many investors are trying to get ahead of the AI boom—and wondering whether it could all go bust—Mike offers a strikingly levelheaded perspective.
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“As long as I’ve not levered it too highly,” he says, “as long as I can survive a hit to my earnings for a year or two, give it a year or two and someone else will want that data center space.”
In this episode, Mike shares hard-won lessons from previous cycles of infrastructure investing and his unique framework for data center investments. We also explore to what extent the rapid build-out of digital infrastructure resembles the dot-com bubble and, more important, where that historical analogy breaks down.
The Private Equity Podcast
In our podcast series, Bain's Hugh MacArthur interviews leading experts on the trends and opportunities that will redefine the private equity industry.
First published in mars 2026