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Rahmbo’s Revolving Door Revisited
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Last week, we noted that Rahm Emanuel’s brief but profitable stint as an investment banker highlights the revolving door swinging between Washington and Wall Street. Two stories in particular, one from the Chicago Tribune in 2003 and the other from Fortune Magazine in 2006, have detailed Emanuel’s days as a banker, which earned him more than $18 million in less than three years.
Today, Politico examines a major deal Emanuel worked on as the Chicago-based managing director for the now-defunct investment bank Wasserstein Perella, headed by Bruce Wasserstein, a major Democratic donor. The deal involved a $16 billion merger that created Exelon Corp., now one of the nation’s largest electric utilities.
Politico points out that Exelon is in the midst of trying to buy another company, which could create "the nation’s largest power company." From Politico:
Emanuel's elevation to the White House comes at a pivotal time for the company he helped create. Exelon is now involved in a hostile takeover bid for the assets of NRG Energy ...
The deal potentially faces a host of regulatory and government approvals, and industry insiders will be watching to see that Exelon is treated fairly by the Obama administration ...
Executives at Exelon declined comment.
An Emanuel representative said that Exelon won’t get any special favors from the White House. "Serving the American people and President Obama is Congressman Emanuel’s only priority," the representative said.
The Washington Post also recently noted that Emanuel is still close with Exelon’s CEO, John Rowe. Emanuel reportedly called Rowe "while he was shopping at a bookstore and agonizing over the toll that a move back to the White House would take."
This story can be found on the web at the following address:
http://www.propublica.org/article/rahmbos-revolving-door-revisited-1119/
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