Former US Treasury Secretary Timothy F Geithner will join private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC as president and managing director. Geithner, who will assume his responsibilities full time on March 1, 2014, also will be a member of the firm’s Executive Management Group. Geithner was a trusted lieutenant to President Barack Obama in the latter's previous tenure and had played a leading role in shaping the government’s response to the financial crisis in 2008-09.
The New York headquartered firm said in a statement that Geithner will work closely with Warburg Pincus’ Co-Chief Executive Officers, Charles R. Kaye and Joseph P. Landy, on overall firm strategy and management, investing and portfolio management, organizational and funding structure, and investor relations.
Geithner was the 75th secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, between 2003 and 2009.
“Warburg Pincus has an excellent record of performance, a very compelling global strategy and an ethical reputation of the highest regard,” Geithner said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues and to contributing to the firm’s continued growth and success.”
It's not the first time a top US government official joining private equity. David Rubenstein is another one, who, prior to starting The Carlyle Group in 1987, was a domestic policy advisor to President Jimmy Carter.
Another major PE association with US politics is that of Mitt Romney, the Republican party's nominee for US presidential race in 2012, who had co-founded private equity firm Bain Capital.
