Private Equity

     So in addition to building a conglomerate, I also have dreams of building a private equity firm, or of having my holding company start its own private equity firm. This may sound maniacal to some, but I think it is very doable because Goldman-Sachs started its own private-equity operation, which is right now the largest private-equity operation on Wall Street.
     Private equity fits with my desire to build companies and control lots of them. The thing that I am not sure of per se is how to found the firm (provided I do not wait to have a conglomerate first). My initial goal is to become a successful entrepreneur first, then perhaps start the firm. I figure this way I can start it with my own money like Lynn Tilton started Patriach Partners. What I also wonder is what degree of education do I need to start a private equity firm? Is knowledge of how to build a company enough? Or do I need extensive knowledge in terms of finance as well...? For example, Ron Burkle dropped out of college and started Yucaipa Companies, a holding company engaged in private equity investments (is that the same thing as a private equity fund...? or is it separate in that it is a company owned by one individual with no outside investors that engages in private equity...? THIS STUFF IS CONFUSING! if I can have my holding company engage in its own private equity investments, I might do that).
     On the other hand, one could also say that while knowledge of how to build a company is important, as a private equity manager, one would probably need to know a lot of formal finance knowledge in order to handle how to structure the debt and so forth of various companies and investments the firm becomes involved in.
     Obviously no one in their right mind will just give some random guy with no experience or knowledge a bunch of money to manage a private equity fund (or at least not now anyway; at the height of the boom, some actually were! It was like the venture capitalists throwing money at businesses with no solid fundamentals). But what about a successful entrepreneur who doesn't have much in the way of formal education (although does have self-education), as opposed to the guy who has spent say a decade working in for example mergers and acquisitions who now wants to start his own firm. I intend to be the former, as I cannot become the latter.
     Irregardless though, I do intend to self-educate myself to a great degree in finance, and I would imagine that if I have a high enough net worth, that also could provide some comfort to investors at the time as well. All of this of course is if I decided to start a wholly-separate private equity firm managed by me.