The changing higher education space has created the need for universities to align themselves in order to record improved performance and also be able to compete globally with other universities. Universities are considered as institutions as well us organisations and therefore they need to have managers with the relevant capabilities in order to drive the university forward. Unlike public universities that are sponsored by the government private universities have different sponsors who influence their ability and capability to performance. A triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative designs was used. This study therefore sought to investigate the nexus between managerial capabilities, sponsorship and performance of private chartered universities in Kenya. This study targeted all the registered private chartered universities and was pegged on the dynamic capabilities theory and the agency theory. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysed using SPSS version 25. The study findings indicated that sponsorship influenced managerial capabilities and performance of private chartered universities in Kenya.