The Investment-Banking Genius of Rahm Emanuel

The Investment-Banking Genius of Rahm Emanuel
In September 2006, we had a post about Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago), President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed Chief of Staff.In it, we noted the unusually high degree of success that Mr. Emanuel -- someone with no investment banking experience, and very little actual private-sector experience -- had in making about $18 million in less than three years during his stint at the firm Wasserstein Perella.As Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan pointed out, Emanuel's earnings during that period placed him in the top 3%-5% of all investment bankers in the country.As we noted back in 2006:
Nina Easton has written a piece in Fortune titled, "Rahm Emanuel, Pitbull Politician," which has this interesting tidbit: (emphasis added)
... Emanuel had political aspirations of his own, which necessitated some financial security. So in late 1998 he traded in Clinton as his boss for Bruce Wasserstein, a major Democratic donor and Wall Street financier. "Money is not the be-all and end-all for him," says brother Zeke. "But he knew he needed money so that wouldn't be a problem while he was doing public service." Over a 2 1/2-year period he helped broker deals-often using political connections-for Wasserstein Perella.According to congressional financial disclosures, he earned more than $18 million during that period. His deals included Unicom's merger with Peco Energy and venture fund GTCR Golder Rauner's purchase of SBC subsidiary SecurityLink. But friends say his compensation also benefited from two sales of the Wasserstein firm itself, first to Dresdner Bank and then to Allianz AG.So, Emanuel was hired by Bruce Wasserstein, a man who has contributed over $200,000 to the Democratic Party since 1990 (see campaign disclosure information here, and subsequently made about $18 million in less than three years while working for Wasserstein's firm.They took care of their boy. It is so Chicago. "Punch 10."* Rep. Emanuel's personal financial disclosures for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.Da Ciddee Dat Wirx.
Posted by Tom Elia in Politics at 12:42 Comments (5) Trackbacks (0)