Jeb Bush Was Only a Millionaire When He Left Office, But He Wanted to Be Rich
PHILIP BUMP
A possible Jeb Bush presidential bid in 2016 may be partly undermined by his rush, in the years after he left the Florida statehouse, to make a lot of money, quickly. See, he was only worth $1.3 million, and he wanted to actually be rich.
"People thought of him as wealthy," Florida State professor Lance deHaven Smith tells The New York Times' Michael Barbaro. But that "was a misperception." Instead, Bush left his position as governor of Florida with "a net worth of $1.3 million and an unapologetic determination to expand his wealth, telling friends that his finances had suffered during his time in government," according to Barbaro. That suffering is calculable; when he entered office, he was worth $2 million.
So Bush employed a three-part strategy. He joined corporate boards, he advised corporate clients, and he gave speeches to corporate groups. Barbaro reports that the latter was probably the most lucrative, earning him as much as $5 million. But the first two tactics will raise questions if he decides to run in 2016.
Bush sat on the board of one company called InnoVida, a Florida firm that manufactured building materials. Until, that is, the company's president was indicted and it went bankrupt. Bush sat on the board of a soap company that collapsed, prompting lawsuits. He advised Lehman Brothers, the financial firm whose collapse helped trigger the 2008 economic meltdown, by unsuccessfully reaching out to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim for a bailout. (That plan was called "Project Verde," which is a little on the nose.)
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http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/04/jeb-bush-was-only-a-millionaire-when-he-left-office-but-he-wanted-to-be-rich/360987/
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