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Bloomberg – Some of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides, none of whom faced Senate confirmation, earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other Wall Street firms, according to financial disclosure forms.
The advisers include Gene Sperling, who last year took in $887,727 from Goldman Sachs and $158,000 for speeches mostly to financial companies, including the firm run by accused Ponzi scheme mastermind R. Allen Stanford. Another top aide, Lee Sachs, reported more than $3 million in salary and partnership income from Mariner Investment Group, a New York hedge fund.
Jackson, NJ – Senate Republican Budget Officer Tony Bucco called on Governor Jon Corzine to release all documents detailing links between casinos and a hedge fund company in which the governor is invested. The Governor’s financial disclosure forms show that he has invested in a hedge fund called TPG-Axon.
The Star-Ledger reported that the fund has the same addresses and almost the same name as Texas Pacific Group (TPG), an operator of hedge funds that bought Harrah’s Entertainment in 2006. Harrah’s owns four casinos in Atlantic City. Yet the governor contends that his investment meets the letter and the spirit of the state casino laws.
Wall Street Journal – The new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is among the wealthiest Obama administration appointees, with income of at least $10 million in 2008 thanks mostly to her husband, a hedge-fund executive, according to financial disclosure forms.
Margaret Hamburg and her husband, Peter Fitzhugh Brown, must divest themselves of several hedge-fund holdings as well as some of Mr. Brown’s inherited drug-company stocks so Dr. Hamburg can take the post as the nation’s top food and drug regulator. Mr. Brown is a lieutenant to hedge-fund magnate James Simons.
Reuters – Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million (3.48 million pounds) by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the past year, financial disclosure forms released by the White House showed on Friday.
Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and Harvard University president, also was paid $2.7 million in speaking fees by a range of organizations and companies, including several troubled Wall Street financial firms, they showed.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Lawrence Summers, who is currently serving as Director of President Obama’s National Economic Council, made millions from his days working as a managing director for hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co.
The New York-based hedge fund, which oversees about $36 billion in capital, paid the former Treasury Secretary about $5.2 million over the course of 16 months starting in 2006. And that’s not including bonuses.
According to a financial disclosure released by the White House on Friday, Summers also raked in around $2.7 million in speaking fees for appearances at banks like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., who collapsed last year, paid Summers over $67,000 for one appearance this past July.
For an administration that wants to convey their dedication and support of increased regulation and the all-out war on corruption and excessive executive pay in corporate America, many feel the President may be choosing individuals who don’t necessarily share that view, at least not privately.
Carol Browner, the White House Energy Policy Coordinator, is another member of the administration no stranger to hedge funds. She still holds an interest in Albright Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund founded by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Browner said her holdings were worth between $450,000 and $1 million, and said she earned $450,000 last year by working for Albright Group LLC, a related consulting firm. She is still owed between $350,000 and $750,000 in member distributions.
David Axelrod, former Chief Strategist for the Obama campaign and now the President’s Senior Advisor, was paid a $1.55 million salary when he worked for a public affairs firm. According to those same disclosures, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel held about 1,000 shares of American International Group, Inc., although he claims he currently does not hold any shares of the company that was bailed out by taxpayer funded government aid.
Despite the big pay days, the conflicts of interest that potentially exist may play a bigger role in public dismay. In addition to his $3.9 million salary at a law firm, Deputy White House National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon represented clients such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and hedge fund Apollo Management LLP. He also worked for Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2005.
“It just may be the reason that money keeps being thrown at banks and companies who have proven they are undeserving, is because the administration, like every single other administration, is stacked full of the same, rich people who would rather dole out money to their own than to the Americans who really need it,” said one blogger who remained anonymous.
The White House contends there is no current conflict of interest with any cabinet member. Speaking of Summers, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said he “has been at the forefront of this administration’s work to shore up our nation’s financial system and to put in place a regulatory framework that will strengthen the financial system.”
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – The Banks Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly voted yesterday to pass a bill that will raise the minimum financial qualifications for hedge fund investors to $2.5 million, and for institutional investors, $5 million.
If the bill, called "An Act Concerning Hedge Funds" is passed by the Connecticut General Assembly, it may become effective as early as October 1, 2009.
This marks a substantial increase above the minimum investor assets ($1 million) required under existing federal standards, making it harder for hedge fund managers in Connecticut to raise capital.
The Connecticut Bill was one of three bills introduced in mid-February to the legislature for consideration by the Banks Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly. Two other bills cover financial disclosure and licensing requirements, they up for vote in the near future.
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds
