Former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, who was instrumental in creating the military private equity industrial complex, has died.

Carlucci, 87, died Sunday from complications of Parkinson’s disease, Carlyle Group, which he helped grow into a powerhouse, said on Monday.

Carlucci was vice chairman and then chair of Carlyle from 1989 through 2003. Today, DC-based Carlyle is one of the world’s largest investment firms, with $195 billion of assets.

In 1989, Carlyle caught the attention of Carlucci, who was Pentagon boss under President Reagan from 1987-89.

Carlucci saw the new firm set up by Beltway lawyers, including David Rubenstein, to take advantage of tax loopholes as a way to make money off defense contractors.

Carlyle, mainly through its defense investments, racked up returns of 33 percent a year in the 1990s — allowing the firm to branch out in new directions.