CNN: Carlyle Vice Chairman Back, Much Left Unsaid

It's becoming a weekly event for Carlyle Group Vice Chairman Admiral James Stavridis to be interviewed by Michael Smerconish with no disclosure as to the man's day job.  

Stavridis could have provided color on Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein's decision to sell 500,000 shares of stock for over $23 million.  Surely, the man's tax bill went down like other billionaires in his class.  

Is Rubenstein funding another historical project as part of his "patriotic philanthropy," the political sales pitch for his longtime "carried interest" tax dodge?  

Does he plan to invest the money in his daughter Alexa's new PEU fund based in West Palm Beach, Florida - the New Cracker Wall Street?

Later on Smerconish interviewed the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried about his "innocence."  For a lawyer Smerconish went light on the legal details that contributed to SBF's conviction.  

SBF and David Rubenstein both invested in Paxos, alongside numerous other TechGods and private equity underwriters (PEU).  SBF approach Rubenstein for an investment as FTX neared financial trouble.  Rubenstein passed.

Co-mingling customer funds with company trading accounts is a longtime financial sin that has taken down many executives.  

Back to Admiral Stavridis and his day job, global strategy at Carlyle.  I am sure he is working overtime to assess the impact on Carlyle's portfolio and where/how to put their giant vaults of dry powder to work.  Trump II's country by country takeover has a strong economic motivation as "deal makers earn deal fees" and he needs greater net worth.

Consider this from another PEU, Skybridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci:

...the U.S. and its allies had developed a “systemic blind spot” after the Berlin Wall fell, treating liberal democracy's victory as inevitable and making economic mistakes that fueled political and cultural fractures. 

He admitted that, as a young Wall Street analyst, he had ignored the concerns of American workers while leaders justified offshoring, trade integration, and China's WTO entry.

It was the PEU boys who bought U.S. companies and shuttered factories, sending jobs overseas.  Politicians provided them tax breaks that helped millionaires become billionaires.  

The factories are "coming back" but they will be automated.  Carlyle's Stavridis may be working on this, but we know Jeff Bezos is as well.  Axios reported:

(Bezos) is in talks to raise $100 billion for a fund that would buy manufacturing companies "and seek to use AI technology to accelerate their path to automation."

TechGods and at least one Trump boy have a stake in factory automation company Hadrian.  Don Jr. is a partner for 1789 Capital which took a stake in Hadrian two months ago.

Stavridis could have talked about:

1.  the Trump's race to expand the American economic pie by raiding other countries or 
2. the PEU race within the race to garner larger and larger chunks of Uncle Sam's budget in the new Red Team's "state capitalism" or 
3. the race to paper over criminal behavior in our new anything goes business environment.  

That I would have found more interesting.

Greasy Palms: Team Trump II

Corey Lewandowski, former Special Advisor to Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, is alleged to have asked for a cut of any deal contractors made with the department.

...wanted to be compensated based on the company’s new or renewed contracts with DHS, the two sources said. 

 “He wanted payments — what some people would call a success fee.”

This is a widespread practice amongst the private equity underwriting (PEU) crowd.  It is also pervasive in Trump world, where the White House looks the other way for members of its team.

The U.S. government has gone "deal maker" under Trump II.  From his inauguration the Trump boys have targeted (front run) dad's strategic initiatives for profit.

Deal fees can be direct or indirect.  

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's boys as well as Steve Witkoff's kids are benefitting mightily from Trump II.

Stable coin Tether is based outside the United States and has never conducted a financial audit of its operation, despite news announcements of such last March.

The White House announced a fraud initiative focused on federal benefit programs.  

It mentioned the use of third party contractors.  You guessed it, Don Jr.'s 1789 Capital invested in such a firm last November.

Nobody acts on insider information better than the Trumps and members of their inner circle.  They have a Washington, D.C. club with that as a mission.  The Executive Branch Club is just that.  

And you and I aren't in it.

$TRUMP: Leveraged Political Access Bet

Trump II's memecoin has the following disclaimer:

Trump Memes are intended to function as an expression of support for, and engagement with, the ideals and beliefs embodied by the symbol "$TRUMP" and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type.

 And Trump II's second dinner contest caused a 354% rise in $TRUMP derivatives volume?  I believe derivatives are investment contracts.

Trump II's first dinner nearly doubled his meme-coin price from roughly $8 to $16 during the contest period.  

His second is less impactful to date.  It has gone from $2.75 to currently $3.40 (with a rise to $4.25 in between).

"It's long term value is tied to Donald Trump's political relevance," which is ebbing by the tantrum and savage whim.  

A new poll on Donald Trump found that 65% of polled Americans say “arrogant” applies “a lot” to the president. More than half also describe him as “opportunistic” (57%), “reckless” (56%), “dishonest” (54%), and “corrupt” (54%).

Derivatives are risky bets, the kind Trump II would want to take (his ideals and beliefs).  Are you "all in" for Trump II's global casino rampage?  It could get you a free meal.

Old & New PEU Fed Chairs

Trump II's nominee for the Fed Chair is Kevin Warsh, who works for Stanley Drunkenmiller's Duquense Family Office.  Kevin manages the firm's private equity portfolio.  

Private equity underwriters (PEU) came up short in returns the last few years for a large Canadian pension.  It lost that pension 5.3%.

This pension essentially managed their own private equity portfolio, I imagine much like Kevin Warsh at Duquense.

I am sure many of you recall Apollo's Marc Rowan calling private credit, essentially investment grade.  That has not aged well.

Unfortunately many Americans have been sold private equity and private credit investments in their retirement funds.  Extend and pretend has been the mantra on both sides, equity and credit.  

Economic stressors tend to expose criminal behavior or the inability to handle a formerly survivable financial event.  

PEU Kevin Warsh will be installed as Fed Chair, replacing another Trump appointed PEU in Jay Powell.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

Update:  Carlyle's 2018 European PEU fund has also performed poorly.

TechGods & PEUs Intend to Deliver Hell

Trump II never followed Christ's Gospels.  Love God and love your neighbor?  In his mind that's for suckers and losers.  Trump II is a deal maker.  Deal makers brutalize their victims, earning deal fees, directly and indirectly.

TechGod and Chief Heretic Peter Thiel has been dispatched to Rome (next to the Vatican city/state) to distort the Book of Revelations.   

Thiel might as well be wearing an "I am the Anti-Christ" hat with his unrestrained, unethical tech that seeks to usurp God at every turn. 

It's as darkly comical as Trump II pretending to be a great leader. Both Thiel and Trump cannot get enough prizes on this earthly plane. 

Bottomless is their greed, lust for power, abuse of others and need to control.  Our elected officials and their billionaire supporters, private equity underwriters (PEU) and TechGods, are crafting a literal hell on earth for most of its occupants.  

TechGods and PEUs promised only good but the public knows they've delivered far more evil than advertised.  TechGods don't allow their kids access to their products, except on a very limited basis.  

Most workers have experienced a PEU buyout of their employer and know the "shit show" that follows.  

Voters sense that elected officials cater to this billionaire class and reluctantly consider the little people around election time as their votes are needed to remain in power.  

TechGods & PEUs are legion in the U.S. political systems and are intertwined in Gordian fashion.  Christ could cast out this multitude of demons but he is not physically here.  

It is time to reverse the toxic tide that floated the privileged in their super-yachts and drowned so many.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more have been one.  Let's make that a decreasingly in November.  

Conflicts Undeclared: McHenry's "This Week"

Former Interim Speaker of the House Patrick McHenry served on a political panel Sunday morning.  The host did not share any information about McHenry's current work, where his Congressional service to TechGods and private equity underwriters (PEU) paid off handsomely.  

McHenry has at least nine high paying gigs.  Lazard and a16z represent the old bastion (PEU) and new  guard (TechGod) of finance.  McHenry is Senior Advisor at both.

His other Senior Advisor roles are with Stripe, Equipifi and the Coalition for Prediction Markets.  

McHenry is on the Advisory Board for BGR Group a D.C. based lobbying firm that specializes in big money and high tech.  BGR lobbies for McHenry's a16z.

Other roles include Vice Chairman for Ondo Finance, a blockchain/tokenized securities fintech.  He is also on the Board of Directors for a digital bank, LiveOak Bank, which aims to be America's small business bank.  

That should give McHenry a unique perspective when looking at a16z's fintech Synapse collapse.  

"the amount of the “shortfall” in customer funds was between $65 million and $95 million"

Marc Andreessen's a16z walked away from Synapse carcass with nary a peep or care.  He did set up an office in Washington, D.C. to deter any accountability.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) set aside $46 million for jilted Synapse account holders.  

Trump II has the CFPB in his sights for disruption and dismantling, a move likely applauded by TechGods and PEUs.

McHenry is working hard, raking in the green, all for his and his numerous employers' behalf. There is little left for the common person, no service, no protection, no voice, no advocacy and no recourse after these guys "jack stuff up."   

"It's overwhelming because you really feel like you are up against this huge wall that you can't penetrate. There's nothing that you can do. And they don't care."

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  

Trump Grynesty Loots the Globe

Founder Jared Kushner already has billions in Middle East money to invest through Affinity Partners, a relatively new private equity underwriter (PEU).  Jared is seeking $5 billion more.  

Simultaneously Jared is Trump II's international negotiator, alongside Steve Witkoff of The Witkoff Group. PEU Report wrote about their diplomatic push to war.  

Trump is executing his hostile takeover of Iran.  The world saw Jared's ability to take that which is not his in Davos, Switzerland:

The imagery was sleek, the promises grand. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented a “Trump economic development plan” for Gaza—complete with AI-generated renderings of glass towers and marinas which reimagined the devastated enclave as a futuristic tourist destination. 

However, these glossy images bear little relation to the reality of a population emerging from a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Famine was recently declared, over a million people lack adequate shelter, and the health system has collapsed. Trump’s plan would obliterate Gaza’s history and society by imposing a top-down economic and tourism model. Few Palestinians, if any, have been consulted in its development: in the absence of Palestinian agency, President Trump will “exercise all power and authorities” as chairman of the Board of Peace (BoP).[1] - European Council on Foreign Relations

Jared's financial disclosure is due soon for his White House special envoy role.  It should be somewhat revealing, as much as the PEU boys are actually willing to share.  It's private equity and private capital, meaning none of anyone else's business (outside us insider connected billionaires).

The Pentagon is forming its own internal PEU and needs greed and leverage talent.  Cerberus PEUs holds top spots in the Pentagon and its Office of Strategic Capital.

Lorch needs a few heartless finance/tech bros (the kind that staffed DOGE).  

Lorch was Director and VP for The Meadows of Wickenburg, a high end mental health treatment facility for the rich and famous.  Yes, that includes political types.

Back to the Pentagon new PEU office, which needs a PEU good men.

You realize who is to be enriched by these public PEU efforts...

There is a pattern here for those willing to pull back far enough to see.

The fish rots from the head down as the government is being remade on the inside in PEU/TechGod image.  For this "economic statecraft", the little people suffer.  

It's Trump II's Greed Dynasty... and his Grynasty will wear us down.  

Update 3-17-26:  Semafor found the pattern:

This same newsletter had:

Admiral James Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO and a vice chair at Carlyle, told Semafor last year that a postwar Iran could be “the big investment opportunity in the Middle East.” An educated population of 90 million people with good demographic trends and a strong national culture — “they believe in themselves as Persians,” he said — could “look like the reconstruction of the Korean peninsula after the end of the Korean War.”

TechGods and PEUs want to profit from the war as well as its aftermath.