Proterra made the news recently for former board member and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm's conflict of interest after President Biden and Vice President Harris toured Proterra's production facilities. CNN reported:
That Granholm even promoted electronic cars as part of the administration's climate push is already ethically questionable, experts say, but Biden and Harris' direct highlighting of Proterra is even more problematic as it could increase the company's value when it goes public -- and increase Granholm's profits.
So who stands behind Proterra? Al Gore and Colin Powell are advisors for major investor Klein Perkins, which has two board slots.
Al Gore is also chairman and co-founder of Generation Investment Management, another early investor in Proterra.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm joined Proterra's board in March 2017. Concerns have been raised about her divestment of Proterra stock and stock options. As a private company a ready market does not exist for her to sell her shares.
ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on July 28, 2020. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses that the Company has not yet identifiedSpecial purpose acquisition corporations (SPAC) are a sign of greed and compromised ethics.
ArcLight has two top leaders who highlight their role with Clean Energy for Biden. Generation Investment Management has one board slot which will remain after the SPAC combination.
Other appointed and elected officials have kept residual private equity stakes while "ethically" serving the public. White House health reformer Nancy-Ann DeParle and Florida Senator Rick Scott had questionable financial filings. DeParle had a residual private equity stake in MedQuest that was undeclared in prior forms. Both transferred assets to family members but could easily have retained control and benefited from conflicted holdings.
Oddly Senator Scott made his fortune with hospital giant HCA. Rick Scott left in disgrace as HCA paid a $1.7 billion fine for fraudulent billing. Nancy-Ann DeParle joined HCA's board in 2014 and currently holds stock worth $3.8 million.
Politicians Red and Blue love PEU (private equity underwriters). Some dance back and forth between the private and public sector. Most make money regardless of which party is in power. They designed a game where those who accumulate the most wealth win.
These are the same people not wanting to pay higher taxes on their massive gains. The size of Secretary Granholm's gains from Proterra remain to be seen.
Update 5-12-21: The Carlyle Group is in energy as a service, electric bus recharging, via a joint venture with Schneider Electric. Their first project is in David Rubenstein's backyard (not literally).
Update 5-18-23: Carlyle's joint venture with Schneider Electric, AlphaStruxure, will outfit a Rockville, Maryland bus station with a solar power system used to produce hydrogen fuel for buses.
