One constant refrain from the World Economic forum last week was the yearning of large public companies to be taken private, reports the New York Times. And it’s not just because of the rigors of Sarbanes-Oxley or the awkward questions shareholders raise.

It’s more about management, reports the paper. The private equity deals allow large companies to realize greater value because they cut management loose to concentrate on more than quarterly earnings expectations. It gives them more freedom.

“Do I want a board of people who are owners that want to make the business better, or a group that acts like scared regulators?” one Fortune 100 executive tells the paper. “I’d much rather have a strong businessperson on my board than a Harvard professor who is an expert in corporate governance who only wants to talk about process.”

And that raises the question of whether there are funds big enough to take on the largest public companies. Like 400 lb. linebackers, the days of the $100 billion fund don’t seem so far off. Two fund managers tell the paper large companies offer the real opportunities because the bigger they are, the more likely they are to be badly managed.