Private Equity Maverick Behind Hot Trade Eases Grip (Repeat)

(This story originally ran on Dec. 15. On Thursday, Swedish private equity firm EQT AB agreed to buy Coller Capital for $3.2 billion.)

After tossing a toy spider into the crowd at a recent New York event, Jeremy Coller explained the real meaning behind survival of the fittest.

The 67-year-old finance maverick had just hosted a party for his investors at the city’s American Museum of Natural History. Spending the evening among the wonders of the natural world had given him pause for thought.

“Charles Darwin taught us that it’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the biggest, nor the fastest, ...