Teneo's politically connected CEO Declan Kelly resigned in disgrace after behaving badly at a Global Citizen charity concert in May. Teneo was a corporate sponsor of the event.
VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World is executive produced by Global Citizen, the Ad Council & COVID Collaborative, YouTube Originals, iHeartMedia, Teneo and Live Nation.
Teneo is part owned by CVC Capital. Kelly got drunk and groped women in front of his private equity sponsor at an event his company supported.
Chris Stadler is co-chair of the Global Citizen board of directors and a managing partner at CVC Capital Partners
PRWeek reported:
The allegations were that Kelly had behaved inappropriately at a party on 2 May linked to the high-profile concert put on by Global Citizen, chaired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which featured artists including Jennifer Lopez. According to the FT, several sources claimed the inappropriate behaviour included the non-consensual touching of a number of women.
PageSix reported:
The insiders at Teneo — the Manhattan firm that promotes itself as helping Fortune 500 CEOs maintain their pristine reputations and avoid scandals — claim that Kelly has been “having an affair with a subordinate for years.”
Another Teneo insider said of the alleged relationship, “It has been an open secret at the firm.”
Former President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair worked as advisors for Teneo. They also rode multiple times in Jeffrey Epstein's plane, known as the Lolita Express.
In 2006 Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Bill Clinton made more than two dozen trips on Epstein’s jet around this time, Epstein’s flight logs show. In January 2003, according to Band, Clinton visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James.
Consider this story from Vanity Fair
Around the time Doug Band launched Teneo in June 2011, Chelsea summoned Band and his cofounder Declan Kelly to the Clinton office in Harlem. Band walked in to find Bill flanked by Chelsea and her husband, financier Marc Mezvinsky. According to Band, Chelsea said Band’s $2.5 million offer to put her dad on Teneo’s advisory board wasn’t enough. She wanted Band to give her and Mezvinsky an ownership position in Teneo. To Band, it felt like a shakedown. “I thought she was kidding or deeply sick,” he told me. Band looked across the table at Bill, but he sided with Chelsea. Band refused to give up an equity stake.
Teneo's roots are private equity underwriting (PEU) level greed.
Teneo aspired to be a communications firm, investment bank, and management consultancy all in one, with fees to match: Teneo’s retainers would start at $150,000 a month and reach into the millions.The Clinton Global Initiative and Teneo were intertwined until Bill's charity shriveled.
Teneo recently expanded with the purchase of another advisory firm:
In March, they invested in WestExec Advisors, a Washington geopolitical risk consulting company.
WestExec Advisors was founded by Anthony Blinken and Michele Flournoy in 2108 Both also worked for PEU Pine Island Capital. Blinken is President Biden's Secretary of State.
President Biden tapped more than one Pine Island Capital advisor for his cabinet. Defense Secretary General Lloyd Austin is also a PEU.
Teneo doesn't just cater to the Blue political team. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan works for Teneo and former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders interviewed with Teneo after leaving the Trump White House.
Teneo executives are supposed to save reputations. One has to wonder the series of selfish decisions that contributed to Declan Kelly's downfall. How many ethical lines did he cross on his way to imploding at a high profile charity event? It's PEU level arrogance.
Update 12-31-21: A jury found Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking underage girls.
