Everyone in finance is talking about private credit—the term used for non-bank firms, many of them well known Wall Street names, that have created lending units that provide loans to businesses. Demand for these services has soared so much that BlackRock expects the global private debt market to hit $3.5 trillion in AUM by the end of 2028. Fortune has compiled a list of the people at the forefront of this big and fast-growing sector further below, but first it’s helpful to have some context about the evolution of private credit.
Private credit isn’t a new sector. The term refers to firms, which are not banks, that offer loans to businesses, typically small and medium-sized companies. These companies are usually too big or risky for banks and too small for the public bond markets. Non-bank firms have been providing loans to companies since at least the 1990s but have largely remained in the background.
