Carlyle Hires Former F.C.C. Chairman for Buyout Group

The Carlyle Group, an investment firm with longstanding connections in Washington, has hired the former head of the Federal Communications Commission to help run leveraged buyouts.

Julius Genachowski, who was chairman of the F.C.C. until May, joins Carlyle as a managing director and partner in the United States buyout group, the firm said on Monday. Mr. Genachowski, a proponent of a free and open Internet, will work on investments in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors, including in the Internet and mobile.

The former regulator is the latest Beltway insider to join Carlyle’s payroll. Last year, the investment firm, which is based in Washington, hired Barrett Karr, majority staff director of the House Education and Workforce Committee, to lead its United States government affairs.

Still, Carlyle is not the only private equity player to attract a former government official in recent months. Timothy F. Geithner, the former Treasury secretary, is expected to join the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts last year hired David H. Petraeus, a retired four-star general, as chairman of the KKR Global Institute.

“I’m grateful to have been part of developments around tech, media and telecom for many years, working with some of the best in the business, and I’m looking forward to joining my new and superbly talented Carlyle colleagues to help find and build businesses,” Mr. Genachowski said in a statement on Monday.

After four years of running the F.C.C., Mr. Genachowski is making a lucrative return to the private sector. Since leaving the agency, he has taught a joint course at Harvard’s business and law schools and served as a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, a public policy research group in Washington.

At the communications commission, Mr. Genachowski supported rules against discrimination by Internet service providers over what content they carry, an issue that consumers advocates hold dear. He also successfully opposed the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile and began to free up airwaves for sale to mobile phone companies.

The commission under Mr. Genachowski also angered consumer groups, who criticized the decision to approve the purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast. The consumer group Public Knowledge said his tenure was “one of missed opportunities.”

Before working in government, Mr. Genachowski was an investor in technology and telecommunication start-ups, experience that Carlyle cited in its announcement on Monday. Mr. Genachowski is also a friend of President Obama from law school.

“Deep industry specialization is core to our investment strategy and Julius brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to these sectors,” Allan Holt, co-head of Carlyle’s United States buyout group, said in a statement. “His judgment about how these sectors will evolve will be invaluable to us.”