Hedge Fund Paid Obama Economic advisor Larry Summers $5.2 Million in Past Year! Plus David Axelrod, Vallerie Jarret, Carol Browner and others get plenty of cash!

Top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers received about $5.2 million over the past year in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw, and also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from major financial institutions according to the Wall Street Journal.

A financial disclosure form released by the White House Friday afternoon shows that Mr. Summers made frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. He also received significant income from Harvard University and from investments, the form shows.
Financial Disclosures

In total, Mr. Summers made a total of about 40 speaking appearances to financial sector firms and other places, with fees totaling about $2.77 million. Fees ranged from $10,000 for a Yale University speech to $135,000 for an appearance paid for by Goldman Sachs & Co.

The disclosure — in a financial report that is required for federal office holders — comes as Mr. Summers is involved in shaping the Obama administration’s policy decisions on the financial meltdown as well as the broader recession. Among the many decisions the economic team has wrestled with has been whether to step up regulation of hedge funds, one of the most contentious subjects during a summit of world leaders this week. European nations pushed for tougher rules, while the Obama administration preferred a less stringent approach.

And thats not all!

David Axelrod, the president’s top political advisor, reported in his form that he will get $3 million over the next five years from the sale of his two media consulting firms, ASK Public Strategies, LLC and AKP&D Message and Media. In addition, Mr. Axelrod took a salary of $896,776 last year from AKP&D and reported $651,914 in partnership income from the two companies.

In total, Mr. Axelrod reported assets valued between $6.9 million and $9.5 million. Mr. Axelrod’s clients were mostly political campaigns, including those of Rep. Patrick Kennedy, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. He also reported receiving money from large corporations such as AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp. and the nuclear energy company Exelon Corp.

National Security Adviser James Jones reported $900,000 in salary and bonus from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as director fees from a number of corporations. He received, for example, $330,000 from Boeing Corp. and $290,000 from Chevron Corp.

Gregory Craig, White House Counsel, reported receiving a salary of $1.7 million last year from Williams & Connolly, the high-powered Washington law firm where he had been a partner since 1999.

White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers collected a $350,000 salary from Allstate Financial as president of the social networking division, as well as $150,000 in board fees from Equity Residential, a real estate investment trust in which she also holds at least $250,000 in stock. She also collected $20,000 in board fees from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Other assets reported in her checking account, stock investments, and mutual funds total at least $2 million.

Valerie Jarrett, assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs, lists a $300,000 salary and $550,000 in deferred compensation from The Habitat Executive Services, Inc., in Chicago.

Ms. Jarrett also disclosed payments of more than $346,000 for service on boards of directors that reflect her political ties, and work in Chicago real estate and community development.

She was paid $76,000 last year for service as a director of Navigant Consulting, Inc. a Chicago-based global consulting group with governmental clients. She received $146,600 for service on the board of USG Corporation, a building materials manufacturer, and $58,000 to serve on the board of Rreef American REIT II, a real estate investment trust based in San Francisco. The Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc., paid her $34,444 to serve on its board.

Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon earned $3.9 million as a partner at the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where his clients include Citigroup, Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Obama fundraiser and heiress Penny Pritzker.

Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change, disclosed earnings of between $1 million and $5 million from lobbying firm Downey McGrath Group, Inc., where her husband, Thomas Downey, is a principal. She states $450,000 in “member distribution” income, plus retirement and other benefits from The Albright Group, a lobbying firm whose principals include former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

Some White House aides received considerably more modest compensation.

Director of Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes reported modest retirement investments and $88,000 in income from her work on the Obama campaign and transition team, including $30,000 in consulting fees from Washington, D.C.-based firm The Raben Group.

Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs Adolfo Carrion reported no assets outside of his $160,000 salary earned as borough president of the Bronx and retirement funds for him and his wife.

Patrick Gaspard, Director of the Office of Political Affairs, reported no assets aside from income of $198,000 combined from the SEIU International Union and Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. His listed liabilities are $10,000 to $15,000 in credit-card debt and $15,000 to $20,000 in student loan debt.

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)

Did Larry Summers miss his Red Bull? Summers falls asleep during Hussein Obama’s “fiscal repsonsibility” summit! Looks like the monkey-see, monkey-do routine at yesterday’s “fiscal repsonsibility”...
Chris Dodd’s wife paid by AIG! Senator Dodd, has been at the forefront of the AIG...
Larry Slumbers… err Larry Summers falls asleep on the job, AGAIN! Larry Summers err Larry Summers yet again fell asleep on...
Obama Campaign Ad Firms Signed On to Push Health-Care Overhaul – David Axelrod’s former public relations firm, AKPD Message and Media made $24 million in ad contracts supporting ObamaCare Exposed! Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising...
$5.97 million from Stimulus paid to Hillary Clinton pollster Mark Penn’s two firms saving a total of 3 jobs JammieWearingFool breaks this story. Nearly $6 million in stimulus money...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

April 4, 2009 · Filed Under Barack HUSSEIN Obama

Comments

Lets hear your point of view! - A warning to the liberal whiners who seem intent to flood our comment section with profanity. Save your keystrokes. The anti spamming script will just automatically delete your comment. Feel free to disagree with the host on any article posted here, but flame baits, racism, and profanity laced tirades will NOT be tolerated, and will eventually get your IP address banned!