# Carried interest (carry, promote)

The operator's share of profits, once investors are made whole.

It is where a [searcher](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/searcher)'s own upside lives. Stanford's [search fund](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/search-fund) primer describes the usual grant as three equal tranches: one on acquiring a company, one over about four years of staying, and one when investor returns clear agreed hurdles. Only that last tranche pays for clearing the bar, so the hurdle schedule deserves as much attention as the percentage.

In numbers: On $10M of profit above the [preferred return](https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/preferred-return), a 20% carry pays the sponsor $2M and leaves $8M for the investors.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/glossary/carried-interest
Not dated: A definition is editorial: what a term means, why it matters, and an example. None of it reads a source that can go stale, so there is no date to take and a stamped one would be the build time wearing a costume.

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt