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Posted on 06/04/2007 10:04:01 AM PDT by Reaganesque
WASHINGTON, June 3 — Mitt Romney owes his nearly $350 million fortune and his political career to a delicate negotiation with his boss in the summer of 1983.
Mitt Romney, left, with Bill Bain in 1990. Mr. Romney began his business rise working for Mr. Bain.
His boss, Bill Bain, founder of the Boston consulting firm Bain & Company, called Mr. Romney into his corner office to say that the partners had picked him to start an investment fund to cash in on the huge gains their clients were making in the stock market.
To Mr. Bain’s surprise, Mr. Romney, then 36, seemed wary. He worried about giving up his comfortable salary for a venture that might fail and, later, that investing would pose conflicts for a consulting firm.
Mr. Bain had been determined not to cede any control of the investment fund, but over months of talks Mr. Romney persuaded him to do just that. Mr. Romney emerged as head of an independent sister company, Bain Capital. And Mr. Bain protected him financially while assuming the most risk.
Two decades later, Bain Capital is one of the nation’s five largest private equity firms, and Mr. Romney, who left its management eight years ago, is making his success there a cornerstone of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
But, for an article written by a liberal rag, it's not bad.
got to admit, the guy does look like a leader. i bet dennis kucinich would be tied with the Silky Pony on the other side if he didn’t look like a gnome.
But then, I just explained why the MSM does nothing close to accurate and balanced reporting....
He’s pro homo - well that depends on who is audience is - he’s a flip-flopper who is full of himself. He probably kisses himself good night at night.
This is the type of fellow we need that can tackle the defecit.
>>Romney’s Fortunes Tied to Business Riches<<
Um, that’s generally how it works.
The Sulzbergers, you’d think, would know that. :)
. . .
Headlines I'd like to see . . .
LOL!
There is hardly any deficit.
Another reason why folks voted for Corzine - VERY wealthy and what did he do? RAISE TAXES!
I don’t allow a persons financial success sway me to any extreme. Who knows - he could have cheated people for it as Corzine did.
Get real.
This is an absolutely amazing headline. Mitt Romney’s fortune Tied to Business Riches. You know, tied as in “Nixon tied to Watergate Scandal” or “Cop tied to Drug Cartel”. It’s an absolutely stunning indication of how ridiculously socialist the NYT is, that a person can now be “Tied” to business.
this is the type of fellow that CAUSED the deficit.....
I forgot. The foreigners own all our debt.
BTW Corzine and Romney are polar opposites. Out of the mainstream candidates on the GOP side, he boasts the most fiscally conservative record.
"Running Bain Capital, he said, has more in common with being a candidate, governor or even president than many people realize. The job of a chief executive also involves persuading fractious constituencies – investors, bankers and even 'people who want your job' - to pull together, he said."'There is a popular conception that being a C.E.O. you have no boss and that people just do what you tell them to do, like the captain of a ship,' he said. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.'"
Successful people need not apply?
Edwards Fortunes tied to Chasing Ambulances
Heh, heh... Well, then I’m sure you’ll not find the Dem nominee to your liking either.
You can’t be “anti-gay” and get elected. The best you can hope for is a guy who pretends to be “pro-gay,” yet doesn’t pursue the gay agenda. And you won’t even get that except by sheer luck.
Romney: notorious card-carrying Chamber Of Commerce member
Halliburton investments unknown at present
The American people disagree. Good news for Mitt. His competency as a manager is well established.
Competent manager = proven executive competence = success.
U.S. Wants Competence in Presidential Hopefuls
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States have a clear idea of the traits they prefer in a presidential candidate, according to a poll by Zogby International. 82 per cent of respondents say it is very important for a contender to be a competent manager...U.S. Wants Competence in Presidential Hopefuls
Jeez, he is running for POTUS, not a high school popularity contest. The article features his impressive record of executive competence which is makes it a wonder he is as modest as he is.
"I support the Second Amendment, I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life.
"On a 2006 Georgia excursion, he said, "I knocked quite a few birds and enjoyed myself a great deal."
"But according to a recent Salt Lake Tribune article, the man who claims he has been a hunter "pretty much all my life" has in fact only been hunting twice, ever."
Romney "supported the Clinton Gun Ban in 1994, telling the Boston Herald, "That's not going to make me the hero of the NRA. I don't line up with a lot of special interest groups."
"As recently as 2002, Romney signed into law what is described as "one of the toughest assault weapons laws in the country."
"Is it just me, or is it incredibly insulting every time a politician expects America's hunters, sportsmen, concealed handgun license-holders and gun owners to fall for a couple of drunken one-liners in an election year?"
"Well, Mitt, you can save your empty gun-guy platitudes for some other cheap date."
LOL!! Women and minorities hardest hit!!
I love that photo!
Hmmm, well if "pro homo" means that Romney doesn't discriminate against gay people, then I guess I'm pro homo too. I don't agree with the lifestyle and I oppose gay marriage (just like Romney, I might add), but discrimination in employment and basic human rights against anyone is wrong. I don't care how conservative a candidate is, being anti-gay people just isn't an option.
"...he’s a flip-flopper..."
Which pretty much explains every other Republican in the field as well whether we're talking about Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani. I would argue that I'd much rather have a candidate realize his/her mistake and flip to the more conservative position rather than in the other direction (Yes, I'm looking at you, McCain). I would remind everyone that it took Reagan the better part of his life to evolve from a Democrat to a Republican. Romney never was liberal to begin with. He has been a moderate Republican who is evolving into a more conservative Republican. That's not a bad thing! So what's the big deal?
"...who is full of himself. He probably kisses himself good night at night."
As far as I know, his wife of 38 years is the only one he kisses good night and just as has been mentioned already on this thread, for a man who managed to drive a 113% annual return on investment at Bain for the entire term he was CEO (which has never been matched by any of his successors), turn a complete budget disaster at the Olympics into a profitable success, turn a $3B deficit in MA into a surplus without raising taxes, and earn an estimated personal net worth of $250+ million all while doing it, he seems pretty darn humble and self-deprecating about himself.
Unlike a lot of the candidates on either side, he's one of the few whose wealth is largely self-made--his father's wealth was not inherited by Mitt. Part of it was set up in a trust for George Romney's grandchildren, and the rest of it was donated to his church.
Bain Capital started out with no money backing and nothing but the skills that Romney and his partners brought to the table, yet they managed to turn it into one of the top 5 private equity powerhouses in America. At the end of the day, Romney could have easily stayed at Bain and probably would have amassed a wealth beyond everyone's wildest dreams including his own, but he chose to leave it behind in the name of public service--first during his failed '94 senate campaign and then in his volunteer work for the Olympics and subsequent tenure as a governor. Romney took no salary for running the Olympics or as the governor of MA--both of which were jobs that were far from being easy and together required nearly a decade of commitment. That doesn't sound to me the deeds of someone who is "full of himself."
I guess some could argue that he's just hungry for power, but why would someone who has a lust for power choose to repeatedly insert himself into impossible and often thankless situations without so much as asking for a dime for his efforts? Something tells me there's a different motivation at work here. Could it possibly be because he feels he can make a difference? Obviously you'll have to make that decision for yourself, but I would suggest maybe doing a little homework before simply dismissing someone as being "full of himself."
I don’t need to “do some homework”.
I already have. He’s a phony. He’s a social liberal.
I don’t want anymore cultural decay.
YOU need to look at teh FACTS.
So the answer is to elect someone who will stop the decay??? Since when can any government or government leader enforce morality. Last time I checked, that is learned in the home.
From your responses, I'm getting the impression that your idea of "cultural decay" is allowing homosexuals to exist and have basic rights in our society. If that's incorrect, please feel free to clarify, but if that's true, then I would ask what exactly you would do to stop the "cultural decay" caused by the existence of gay people?
You’ve summed up all the reasons I’m going to vote for Romney. He appears to have the temperament and smarts for the job. And he hasn’t dumped a wife to pick up a babe like McCain, Giuliani, F. Thompson, and Gingrich have. He has class and morals. He has shown tremendous aptitude for running large organizations—something that neither Thompson, nor McCain, nor Gingrich has done.
Well, in all fairness, Thompson was divorced for many years before marrying his current wife, but he has made comments to the effect of “playing the field” during his single years. Since he was a single adult, I can’t hold that against him, but I definitely prefer that Romney has actually walked the walk and talked the talk when it comes to family values.
But the most important attribute I see in Romney versus Thompson or any other candidate is true leadership and competence. I have said it in many other threads—it’s much, much easier to be conservative in a red state than in a blue state and the fact that Romney was able to govern conservatively in a state with a legislature that is 85% Democrat means that he’s walked through the ultimate fire and has proven he knows how to lead.
You’ve mentioned the things about Romney that really attract me to him. His three biggest ventures - Bain, the Olympics, and Gov. of MA - were all really risky. He took on all of them, and succeeded beyond what could have been expected. POTUS, esp. in these hazardous times, is a real challenge. It really isn’t the position we want for people who just like to live luxuriously like the clintoons - they’re rich enough anyway.
And it sure wouldn’t bother me to have another scandal-free couple in the WH.
No, fortunes can also be inherited and not earned via business. Look at our President for example- a failure in business but still wealthy.
You completely missed the point of my smartass comment. :)
If you re-read what I said, you’ll see that I was speaking in general terms. And, generally, it is true that the wealth of most of this country’s top earners is derived from their success or their family’s success in the free market. But the loathsome New York Times breathlessly reports that fact as if it’s breaking news and, when applied to Romney’s success, as if it’s something bad.
The irony at which I was hinting is that the same headline and its derogatory implication easily apply to the man who publishes the New York Times: “Sulzberger’s Fortunes Tied to Business Riches”. In other words, Arthur Sulzberger is a hypocrite to imply that there’s something corrupting about Romney’s success in business.
And by the way, I don’t have a problem with people inheriting wealth.
And if you're ever unfortunate enough to see any of the foolish "reality" TV shows that showcase celebrity homes and such, you can see for a fact that some of the world's stupidest people are loaded up with dough.
I agree with Romney on that one. It ain’t exactly sitting at the top of the throne telling other people what to do. Its a whole lot of financing, coalition building, selling ideas, massaging egos, building constituencies and putting your money and the money of all of your client at risk on the hope that you are skilled enough to make it worth their while.
Personally, I don’t consider it to be easy work which is why I plan to retire at it at some point.
And I don’t see where that kind of executive experience is on: John Edwards, John McCain, Hillary!, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Obama!, Algore or John F’ing Kerry. What exactly have any of them ever run which was a success other than their own political campaigns in a single state? Reminds me of that comment in the 1992 debate by Perot about Clinton running a 7/11.
“It is one thing that if I had a chance to go back I would be more sensitive to,” Mr. Romney said. “It is always a balance. Great care has got to be taken not to take a dividend or a distribution from a company that puts that company at risk.” He added that taking a big payment from a company that later failed “would make me sick, sick at heart.”
Here are more interesting quotes from the article. The founder of Bain says Romney was able to succeed because of his good looks, confidence, and good clothes. It also suggests he is a great political fundraiser, which might explain why the RNC is backing him so hard.
“Mitt ran a private equity firm, not a cement company,” said Eric A. Kriss, a former Bain Capital partner. “He was not a businessman in the sense of running a company,”
“In private equity and in consulting, a lot of what you rely on is trust and confidence and persuasion,” said Mr. Kriss, who worked in Mr. Romney’s cabinet when he was governor. “It is the same in the public sphere, and over many decades that is what Mitt has proven to be good at.”
exposes him to criticism that he enriched himself excessively, sometimes by cutting jobs to increase profits.
He made his money mainly through leveraged buyouts — essentially, mortgaging companies to take them over in the hope of reselling them at big profits in just a few years. It is a bare-knuckle form of investing that is in the spotlight because of the exploding profits of buyout giants like Bain, Blackstone and the Carlyle Group. In Washington, Congress is considering ending a legal quirk that lets fund managers escape much of the income tax on their earnings.
“Increasingly, this world of private equity looks like a world of robber barons, and Romney comes out of that world.”
“Basically, he cut our throats,” a laid-off worker said in a commercial attacking Mr. Romney. (He has said he had nothing to do with the firings.)
Mr. Romney, in an interview, acknowledged that Bain Capital’s acquisitions had sometimes led to layoffs but said that he could explain them to voters.
“Sometimes the medicine is a little bitter but it is necessary to save the life of the patient,” he said. “My job was to try and make the enterprise successful, and in my view the best security a family can have is that the business they work for is strong.”
But he said he did have some second thoughts about elements of his Bain Capital career.
“The experience of the last eight years, running the Olympics and being a governor, would make me take an even more sensitive look at the impact of business decisions on the lives of suppliers and employees and others who are involved,” he said.
“Think of the way he looks now and picture him 30 years younger,” Mr. Bain said. “He was very good looking. He was very comfortable in his body. He moved gracefully. He wasn’t awkward. He had the appearance of confidence of a guy who was maybe 10 years older.”
Bain coached new employees in how to impress older executives. Mr. Bain bought each consultant a copy of the best seller “Dress for Success” and provided a clothing allowance.
The political fund-raising “was a lot easier than raising some of the first Bain funds, I can assure you,” said Mr. Kriss, the former Bain partner. “Mitt is very, very good at that, and he has done it for a long time.”
On the campaign trail, Mr. Romney still calls Bain a “venture capital” firm, a phrase that evokes innovation and entrepreneurship. But his former colleagues say Bain Capital’s partners increasingly put money into the relatively new business of leveraged buyouts, which involves taking over companies with a relatively small down payment by borrowing against their assets to pay most of the purchase price.
About half of Bain’s deals were buyouts by the close of its first fund and as much as 90 percent by the end of the second, Mr. Romney’s former colleagues said.
Such astounding profits brought critics as well. Warren E. Buffett, the legendary investor, has derided private equity firms as “deal flippers” who do little to increase the real value of their targets, profiting from rising prices driven in part by their own deals and by charging their acquisitions “fees, fees, fees.”
Others complain that private equity fund managers like Mr. Romney pay only capital gains taxes instead of income taxes on their cuts of investors’ profits. At present tax rates, that means that they pay 15 percent instead of 35 percent on most of their earnings.
“When you look at the amount of money these guys are making,” said Victor Fleischer, a legal scholar who has consulted with the Senate Finance Committee about changing the law, “the effective tax rate is just sort of shocking to the conscience.”
Bain and its co-investors extracted special payments of over $100 million from each company, enabling Bain to make a healthy profit even before re-selling the businesses — a practice known as “getting back your bait.” Lenders say Bain is one of the firms that has taken the most in such payments, which companies usually make by taking on additional debt.
Both Dade Behring and KB Toys soon suffered dips in their business. Unable to meet the burden of their debts, each filed for bankruptcy and laid off thousands of workers. Bain Capital spokesmen have said the company did nothing improper.
Mr. Romney, who remains an investor in Bain Capital, said he had not been involved in those decisions but acknowledged that such payments became part of the buyout business “very early on.”
“It is one thing that if I had a chance to go back I would be more sensitive to,” Mr. Romney said. “It is always a balance. Great care has got to be taken not to take a dividend or a distribution from a company that puts that company at risk.” He added that taking a big payment from a company that later failed “would make me sick, sick at heart.”
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