Guess who’s raising money for Romney: Bigwigs from private equity firms
Mitt Romney faces continued criticism over his refusal so far to release the names of his campaign “bundlers” — the big money fundraisers who have helped him rake in tens of million dollars for his presidential race.
But two invitations to Romney private fundraisers, obtained by NBC News, reveal where many of them come from: big private equity firms.
It’s the same corporate buyout industry where Romney, as chief of Bain Capital, made his personal fortune and which, in recent days, has become a campaign lightening rod.
Steve Schwarzman, co-chairman of the Blackstone Group, the biggest of all Wall Street private equity firms, is listed as the “event co-chair” at both Romney events, including one tonight in Palm Beach, FL that is expected to bring in over $1 million.
The invite for the event — at the home of Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross — states that event co-chairs are responsible for raising at least $50,000 a piece. (Other co-chairs include billionaire financier and Home Depot founder Ken Langone, sugar baron Pepe Fanjul, and energy executive Bill Koch, whose two brothers head Koch Industries.)
Schwarzman, whose firm has partnered with Bain Capital on deals since the 1980s, was dubbed by Fortune in a 2007 cover story as “The New King of Wall Street.” He also kicked off a firestorm two years ago, when he compared the battle over President Obama’s proposal to increase the tax rate paid by private equity partners to a “war” like “when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.” (Schwarzman later apologized for what he called “an inappropriate analogy.” )
But he is hardly the only Wall Street private equity baron that is bringing in large sums of cash for Romney’s campaign.