US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and US Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner (R) detail measures to be introduced to increase pressure on Iran, in Washington, DC.

(AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Time to Cash In: Geithner to Head Wall Street Private Equity Firm

Job destroying private-equity firms played a major role in the 2012 presidential campaign

Ex-US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, President Barack Obama's key economic adviser since 2009, is joining private-equity firm Warburg Pincus, according to a statement on Saturday.

Geithner, who has spent the last 26 years in 'public service', will become president at the Wall Street-based corporate buyout firm starting on March 1st, according to a press release today from Warburg Pincus.

When Geithner left his post with the Treasury Department in January 2013, Matt Taibbi told Democracy Now: "He's the architect of "too big to fail. When this all blows up -- and it's going to blow up, for sure, because things can't continue the way they are right now -- people are going to look back in history, and they're going to say, "Who was to blame for this?" And Timothy Geithner is going to be the guy who designed this entire system."

Politicoreports:

Private-equity firms in the financial sector played a leading role in the 2012 presidential campaign, with Democrats criticizing Republican candidate Mitt Romney over deals involving his firm, Bain Capital, that led to layoffs at different companies.

For instance, in May 2012 the Obama campaign ran an ad concerning Bain's role in the struggles of American Pad and Paper that featured former employees of the company criticizing Romney.

Defenders of the industry argue it can help turn around struggling companies, but its critics, as the 2012 campaign showed, point to instances where these leveraged buyouts and the efforts to nurse a company back to health can often lead to large layoffs.

* * *

Romney Economics: Job Loss and Bankruptcy at AmpadLearn more: https://www.romneyeconomics.com With American Pad & Paper (Ampad), Mitt Romney and his partners took a small ...

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world


Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place.

We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference.

Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today!

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.