Sunday, August 23, 2020

Trump Keeps Carlyle's Convalescent Plasma Profit Hopes Alive


President Donald Trump announced that convalescent plasma would continue as a therapeutic drug for COVID-19.  Several days ago weak data from randomized control trials raised concerns as to whether the treatment would receive emergency authorization.

The Carlyle Group has plasma play MAK Systems, a blood products software company.  Carlyle's Piramal Pharma Solutions makes antibody drug conjugate.

I expect Carlyle lobbied hard to overcome NIH's recommending the FDA delay allowing the use of convalescent plasma.  Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein's phone call is one any U.S. President would take.

The day before Trump's announcement he attacked deep state operatives in the FDA for holding up treatments and vaccines. 

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

PEU Lover Bill Clinton


The American people were subject to former President Bill Clinton last night.  Jeffrey Epstein's close friend spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Clinton, slayer of Glass-Steagall, allowed greed and leverage to overtake our country.  He did his part by privatizing government services.  After his presidency Clinton joined Yucaipa, a private equity underwriter (PEU). 

Consider what Clinton said to fellow sexual predator Harvey Weinstein in June 2012.


“If you go in and try and save a failing company…you can go into a company, have cutbacks and make it more productive with the goal of saving it, and when you try, like anything else you try, you don’t always succeed…so I don’t think that we ought to get into the position where we say this is bad work. This is good work.”
Clinton worked for consulting firm Teneo, bought by BC Partners in 2015.  PEU BC Partners flipped its stake to CVC Capital in 2019. FT reported

Former US president Bill Clinton became honorary chairman although he left in 2012.
Chairman roles usually come with an equity stake. 

The Clinton Foundation ran Fondo Acceso, a private equity firm in Colombia   It took a week for the PEU to disappear from the internet after news became public.

A Guardian columnist lamented Clinton's speaking role:

Along with George W Bush and Ronald Reagan, it’s Clinton who is to blame for the hollowing out of America over the last 30 years
A former business reporter wrote this blog in July 2011:

I have seen so many people -- particularly those in their 50s - 70s -- taken apart by what has happened in their industry as greed has hollowed out the economy. These are people took pride in their jobs and held themselves to this invisible standard that we all just took for granted, but is being wiped out.
The Carlyle Group scares me more than anything I've ever seen on Wall Street. It seems to exist to corrupt politicians and it's hard to know who they even represent.
Politicians love private equity.  The greed and leverage boys return the favor.  The Clintons headlined The Carlyle Group's annual investor meeting of limited partners.  Bill spoke in September 2012 and Hillary got the 2013 gig. 

Bill received $250,000 for a speech for PEU Apollo Global as Hillary ran for President.  He served as honorary chancellor for KKR owned Laureate Education for a cool $17.6 million. 

President Clinton's being front and center last night is a sign that the raw deal for many won't end anytime soon.  Insiders have done and will continue to do quite well.


Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Supreme Avoids Carlyle PEU


Supreme sponsored an Instagram video by comedian Katt Williams.  Williams tackled the coronavirus, President Trump and Black Live Matter. 

Supreme founder James Jebbie has avoided serious fire for The Carlyle Group's selling flashbangs, pepper spray and other crowd control measures via affiliate Combined Tactical Systems.  Such products have been used to harm peaceful demonstrators.

How long before Carlyle co-founder and comedian David Rubenstein makes a video for Supreme like he did for Beats?  Stay tuned.

Update 11-10-20:  Carlyle will flip its stake in Supreme for at least a double.  VF Corp announced it purchased Supreme in a $2.1 billion deal.  Carlyle's website has no news story on the deal.

Monday, August 17, 2020

PEU Developer of Hawaiian Oceanfront Property for Obama


President Obama's Foundation head and private equity underwriter (PEU) Martin Nesbitt is developing oceanfront property in Oahu, Hawaii for the Obamas.  Nesbitt's property received an easement for the refurbishment and maintenance of a seawall and steps for fifty five years from the state legislature and the governor in 2015.


ProPublica reported:

In order to protect the property from flooding because of sea level rise in the coming decades, developers are seeking to nearly double the height of some sections of the wall. After construction, the entire structure would stand between 9 and 11 feet tall. They also plan to build two more walls totaling 70 feet in length behind it for support.
The report added:

By the 1990s, scientists were warning that those seawalls were causing significant beach loss on all the Hawaiian islands.

Alarmed by these losses, state officials in 1997 released a roadmap for protecting the state’s beaches. The report emphasized that the seawalls were destroying coastal ecosystems, threatening the state’s tourist-driven economy and limiting the public’s access to beaches and the ocean, a right enshrined in the Hawaii Constitution.
Hawaii's state legislative session opened in January 2015 with great fanfare.

In her opening remarks, state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D-Kapalama, Alewa, Kalihi Valley, Ft. Shafter, Moanalua Gardens) highlighted several issues to be addressed this session, including the fight against invasive species and beach erosion.
Australia's New South Wales commissioned an engineering study to deal with its Wamberal beach erosion problem.  It stated:

“A seawall will provide benefits to beachfront properties by reducing the impacts of coastal processes,” the report by Marsden Jacobs found. “However, in the longer term, more properties in this area are likely to experience greater damage and loss of property values from the increased flooding of Terrigal lagoon associated with sea level rise.
“Higher sea levels will result in the increasingly frequent inundation of hundreds of properties surrounding the Terrigal lagoon, the loss of the beach, and impacts on council assets such as water, electricity, sewerage and roads,” it found.

“The key beneficiaries from construction of a seawall are the approximately 60 owners of beachfront properties at Wamberal.” 
After Marty bought the property President Obama pushed disaster financing.

Obama's friend navigated the development process like a true PEU.  He subdivided the land to avoid a zoning restriction, had neighbors sign confidentiality agreements and worked the political process to get approval for an expanded seawall that is not allowed.


Environmentalist Obama and his buddy Nesbitt knew about sea level rise when they bought their oceanfront properties.  The Obamas have a property on Martha's Vineyard and may soon have another courtesy of Waimanalo Paradise LLC.

It's a PEU world, where politicians Red and Blue love PEU.  The rest of us don't matter but every few years at election time.

Update 7-13-23:  Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein interviewed Marty Nesbitt for Bloomberg Wealth.  Nesbitt would not reveal if Barack Obama is an investor in PEU Vistria.

President Obama and Marty Nesbitt are consistent in their manipulations (workarounds in areas intended to protect public interest):

...nonprofit Protect Our Parks argued that the federal government failed to carry out required environmental reviews for the Obama Presidential Center, which is being constructed in the historic Jackson Park.
The group has asked that the library be moved to a location outside of a dedicated public park.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Carlyle Founder's Declaration Partners & COVID-19 Saliva Test


Declaration Partners, the Family Office of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, invested in Vault in March 2020.  Vault announced a home COVID-19 test using saliva.  The test must be shipped from Vault, the sample taken in the home under video supervision and be mailed back to Vault for processing.  Mail delays can impact the timeliness of test results.

Rubenstein personally joined Carlyle in profiting from the coronavirus pandemic.  Carlyle has numerous ways to win under COVID-19.

Carlyle affiliates can help infrared screen people in airports for fever (Schneider Electric & HGH), test for COVID antibodies (Ortho Clinical), assist with blood plasma collection (MAK Systems), produce antibody drug conjugate (Piramal Pharma Solutions), ensure the maximum hospital bill for COVID-19 patients (TrustHCS), manufacture Ivermectin treatment (SeQuent Scientific) and make federal coronavirus purchasing something other than a clown show (Unison).

The more Team Trump drags their feet the more the greed and leverage boys can profit.  That's beautiful in a PEU world.