Saturday, November 30, 2024

Trump Appoints Yet Another PEU: This One Related


President elect and former President Donald Trump's penchant for private equity underwriters (PEU) is clear after his nomination of Charles Kushner for Ambassador to France.  Charles founded the Kushner Companies.  

Five days ago Kushner Capital Partners, LP submitted an SEC filing for a new private equity fund.  Director of the fund is Kushner Capital Partners GP LLC.  All parties share the same address.

Trump is related to Kushner via his daughter Ivanka's marriage to Jared Kushner, also a PEU with Affinity Partners.  Like son, like father.

Trump I pardoned Charles Kushner in December 2020 for his crimes of tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign donations.  

I'm sure many investors will be interested in Kushner Capital Partners.  Everyone loves a freshly hatched PEU, especially one with impeccable insider connections.

Politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.  It's the Red Team's turn to steer Uncle Sam's political power, influence and federal wallet to their friends and family.  D.C.'s swamp has a new Trump II PEU brand.

Update 12-2-24:  Add another billionaire Trump family father in law to his list of nominees:

President elect Trump announced he intends to nominate Massad Boulos, a billionaire businessman from Lebanon who is also father-in-law to Tiffany Trump, to serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.
Add the Biden pardon of son Hunter and the Reds and Blue served up a lot of turkey over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  

Nothing Lures Like "Government Efficiency"


The billionaire boys club is coalescing around the proposed Department of Government Efficiency.  It's a mix of TechGods/Cryptobros, hedge funders and private equity underwriters (PEU).  

The plan is to cut government workers, cut regulations that impede the rights of their corporations to earn gobs of money while paying little to no taxes, steer Uncle Sam's wallet to their corporations and those of their friends/family,.  If that sounds like a conflict of interest soup, it is just that.  The Soup Stirrer of the House is Red Teamer Marjorie Taylor Greene.  

Trump II's Mara Lago Court is a testimony to inefficiency.  CEOs spend days to weeks there to curry favor.  Boards of Directors seem to not mind that their high paid talent is waiting for a few minutes here or there with the President elect.  

Under Trump II the Usurper, those are very expensive minutes.  There's CEO time and whatever Trump II extracts as proper penance for granting his genius presence.

Trump's patriotism is as real as his conservatism but nobody wear's the emperor's clothes better.  
Patriotism, Ego & Access
I'm afraid it back to the Gilded Bronzer Age...

Update:  On average, US billionaires pay an effective tax rate of less than 9%.

Update 1-20-25:  Vivek Ramaswamy is out as co-head of DOGE so you can remove the "S" at the end of Department of Greedy Executives (DOGE).  It's just Elon now.

Friday, November 29, 2024

Trump's PEU Village


President elect and former President Donald Trump danced to The Village People's "YMCA" with Elon Musk at Mara Lago on Thanksgiving.  

The day before Trump appointed John Phelan as his nominee for Secretary of Navy.  Phelan has no military background.  The brought to mind another Village People song, "In the Navy."

A 2021 SEC filing for MSD Acquisition Corp shows:

John Phelan has served as the Chairman of the company’s board of directors since inception. He is the Co-Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of MSD Partners and MSD Capital and is responsible for overseeing investment strategy. Prior to co-founding MSD Capital in 1998, Mr. Phelan was a Principal at ESL Partners (“ESL”), a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm. At ESL, he was responsible for Special Situation and Distressed Investments and helped grow the firm from $50 million to over $2 billion in assets under management. Mr. Phelan was previously a Vice President at the Equity Group: Zell-Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity Funds, where he oversaw Acquisitions (Western Region). Mr. Phelan began his career as an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs.
MSD Capital is a private equity underwriter (PEU).  U.S. Naval Institute News reported Phelan is also founder of private equity firm Rugger Management LLC.  Most PEU founders are billionaires several times over.

Voters with economic angst inflicted by PEU ownership of their employer had no idea that a vote for "Washington outsider" and "businessman" Trump meant their relative in the U.S. Navy would soon get the same turd sandwich they've endured, no raises, benefit cuts and reduced output quality.  

It's not like the federal government hasn't tried to change under America's "unending do more with less so executives/investors can reap outsized rewards" management milieu.  PEU boys own big name consultants who did just that.  The Carlyle Group owned Booz Allen Hamilton, ARINC, and Mantech.  

What can a billionaire educated at Harvard, Southern Methodist University and the London School of Economics do for the Navy?  John Phelan can slice and dice, repackage it, while sucking off the cream.

PEUs win, employees and customers lose.  That's been the story in healthcare, where the public had a voice for a few short months.  That too is going away

If doctors are powerless against PEU executives, what can the average seaman do (other than say:  "Aye, aye, Sir!")?  

Politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.  It's the Red Team's turn to steer Uncle Sam's wallet to their friends.  I'm not sure how well this particular move will go over in the Navy.  

Update 1-11-26:  Secretary of the Navy Phelan will make the recommendation to Pentagon Chief Hegseth about Senator Mark Kelly's video where he and others said members of the military should not follow illegal orders.

Update 4-22-26:  Phelan got the axe, I assume for not keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.  

Update 9-2-26:  Army Chief Dan Driscoll, also a PEU, followed Phelan with his White House firing.  Apparently, image makers beat profit takers in Trump World.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Politicians Thankful for PEU


Blue Team President Joe Biden is back at the Nantucket compound of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein for Thanksgiving.  This trip is a staple of Biden's time as President and Vice President.  Mr. Rubenstein is a politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU).

Red Team President elect and former President Donald Trump is pondering which private equity underwriter to put in charge of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins or Brian Brooks.  


Frontrunner Paul Atkins has his own consulting firm that caters to PEUs and Cryptobros.  He also sits on the board a private equity fund that changed names multiple times as well as the board of a private credit and direct lending fund.  All are under the auspices of Cliffwater.

Brian Brooks is founder and CEO of Meridian Capital Group and advisor to Valor Capital Group, both PEUs.  He has an extensive background with firms that at some point got on the wrong side of regulators, Fannie Mae, OneWest Bank, Binance and Coinbase.  That does not mean the bad behavior occurred under Brooks watch.  Mr. Brooks could be a cleanup guy.  Senate hearings may or may not shed light, depending on who Trump II picks.

Polticians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.  It's the Red Team's turn to steer Uncle Sam's wallet to their friends, which now include TechGods and CryptoBros.  Let the conflicts of interest be FLAUNTED!

Update 11-29-24:  Trump's new SEC Chair pick could pump the crypto.  Trump's Commerce Secretary could add to the pump given Howard Lutnick's ties to Tether.

Update 2-10-25:  Valor Equity is behind Elon Musk's xAI $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI.  Other investors include Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital, Jon Lonsdale's 8VC and Ari Emanuel's Endeavor.  Sam Altman turned down the bid.

Monday, November 25, 2024

Justin Sun to Eat Liberty?

 

The public got another lesson in the value of crypto.  Three days ago we learned crypto worth $6.2 million can buy a banana and duct tape.  

Today we learned five bananas and duct tape can buy a $30 million stake in Donald Trump's crypto venture.  

Buyer Justin Sun said he planned to eat the first banana.  It's not clear what he will do with the next five, otherwise known as World Liberty.  

If anything can eat liberty, I believe crypto can and probably will.  

Artificial intelligence is the tool of fraudsters.  Crypto has proven itself the currency of criminals.  You may wish to invest your money in Brazil.  They have a lot of bananas.

Update 11-26-24:  Trump II is being advised by Cryptobros on his selection of the next Securities & Exchange Commissioner.  

Update 11-29-24:  Justin Sun ate the certifiable $6.2 million  "edible token" banana.  

Update 12-7-24:  It turns out Justin Sun is a predatory financial criminal.

Update 3-1-25:   A predatory financial criminal that invested $75 million in Trump's World Liberty Financial and got his case halted by the SEC.  Coinbase got similar leniency from Trump's SEC. 

CEO optimism has faded overall under Trump II due to mass layoffs possibly leading to a slowdown or recession and the unpredictable nature of Trump's tariff whims.

Trump II Cabinet: Haul of Predators


Trump II's cabinet is complete and includes a number of sexual predators (or enablers of same).  This is important for making the White House a great place for "pussy grabbing" once again.  

Both political teams expanded the power of the unitary executive such that the U.S. Senate is supposed to sit quietly and genuflect before Trump II's haul of predators.  

The irony of Donald Trump assembling a cabinet is rich given his history of stiffing cabinet makers.  I can't wait for Carpenter Don in his next NFT series.  Just don't give him a beard and a robe.

The cabinet list includes more than one private equity underwriter (PEU) and a hedge funder, blood "greed and leverage" brothers in preferred taxation.  

Trump II plans to cut taxes further for the super wealthy.  PEU Hedgies have long asked for a cut from capital gain levels to sales tax sized.  We will see if they get their way.  

They have a decent shot given politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.

Update 11-26-24:  Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn tried to shake down potential cabinet nominees for cash.  Once paid Epshteyn would put in a good word for them as a close Trump advisor.  Sounds like the Red Team version of Blue Rod Blagoejvich.

A former advisor had advice for those working close to Donald Trump:
Olivia Troye issued further strategies for women working in the Trump White House who will face “an extra set of challenges,” she wrote, amid what she described as its “chauvinistic male-dominated culture.”
Predator headed.

Update 11-30-24:  Defense Department nominee Pete Hegseth's mother said he abused many women.

Update 12-6-24:  Trump II, the digital Caligula, appointed financial predator David Sacks as his AI/Crypto Czar.  His Haul of Predators has at least a sexual predator side and another for financial barbarians.  Pump and dump.

Update 12-12-24:  CBS News has a list of Trump nominees to date.  Many a predator and many a family member.  Some are both.

Update 12-15-24:  Trump nominated Kimberly Guilfoyle for Ambassador to Greece.  
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, was accused of sexually harassing an assistant at the network, which the New Yorker reported in 2020 resulted in an out-of-court settlement upward of four million dollars.

Trump's Haul of Predators is growing larger by the day.

Update 1-19-25:  The Senate appears ready to rubber stamp Trump's Haul of Predators.  Meanwhile, the PEUture under Trump II, the digital Caligula, is around Trump family crypto "collectibles," launched within days or hours prior to his coronation.  

Update 1-25-25:  The man who ran a veteran charity into the ground is now our Defense Secretary.  In no other administration would Pete Hegseth be nominated.  It's shocking the Senate found him worthy of one of the top two cabinet positions.  Pete wants "meritocracy" but received his job from sponsorship, not qualifications or experience.

Update 1-29-25:  Cousin Caroline Kennedy characterized HHS Cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a predator.  I did get a chuckle from his line of "everybody loves private health insurance" in his Senate committee hearing and his fandom for Medicare Advantage coverage.

Update 2-11-25:  The U.S. Senate approved Tulsi Gabberd as Director of National Intelligence.  She'll now get to supervise our endemic spying state and work with the TechGods of Intrusion, Alex Karp and Joe Lonsdale.

Update 2-15-25:  Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voted against three of Trump's Haul of Predators.  CNN reported:

(McConnell) opposed Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, citing the former Fox News host’s lack of experience and clear vision for how to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan. He was the sole GOP vote against Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, criticizing the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman’s “history of alarming lapses in judgment.” 

 And on Thursday, McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, cast the only Republican vote against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, saying Kennedy “failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America’s health agency.”

Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s appointment passed the Senate.  His first day in office saw the firing of many workers.


 Update 3-19-25:  Peter Atwater wrote on X:
Forget post-capitalism. We've arrived at what might best be called "Caligulan Capitalism." The grotesqueness is in plain sight.
Update 12-6-25:  Lonsdale said he wants to invest in Iran.  Joe must be studying under the mullahs given his desire for public executions done by masculine leadership.  

It's imperative to use all that information obtained from spying on U.S. citizens.  Otherwise Uncle Sam may quit paying the TechGods billions.  

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Trump's PEU & TechGod Protection Program


Many voters knew influential billionaires were behind both candidates for the White House.  Yet, they had to choose a candidate.  NBC News reported

Trump owes his victory to more common, less polarizing factors that drive many elections year in and year out. 

They include voters’ frustration with their own finances, deep dissatisfaction with the nation’s economy and persistent gloom about the state of the country — all of which fueled a desire for change: 

Nearly half — 45% — of all voters said they were worse off financially than they were four years ago.  
Another take:
Most of the respondents, 82%, “either strongly or somewhat agree that one of the biggest problems facing America today is that a handful of corporations and economic elites have too much power and the government is doing too little about it.”
Seven in 10 Republicans, 92% of Democrats and 81% of independents agreed with the statement.
Oddly, voters put into office someone who plans to do less about reigning in corporate power and economic elites.

Winners from "Trump II:  The Whitest House" include legendary private equity underwriters (PEU) and TechGods.  

Former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney predicted multi-CEO billionaire Elon Musk would have an easier time going to Mars than cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget.  Mulvaney also noted:
... that tech executives, including venture capitalist David Sacks and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, will have a big influence on Trump's second-term agenda.
Ten days ago TechGod Marc Andreessen celebrated Trump's victory as a "boot off the throat."  Andreessen's VC firm opened a Washington, D.C. office this past May.  


Affiliate fintech Synapse had gone bankrupt and political muscle was needed to dispose of "the mess."
On April 22, 2024, Synapse Financial Technologies, Inc. (“Synapse”) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California.

Synapse users thought they had actual bank accounts with FDIC coverage.  Instead their accounts were under a "Synapse Brokerage program," otherwise known as a fee scraping middleman.  


Synapse customers had money, now they don't.  Inadequate controls to protect customers....that has a familiar ring.

"Software is eating the world" and elected officials have failed us at nearly every turn.  Children are exposed to predatory social media.  Two weeks ago, a court found Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg not personally liable for harm done to kids via Facebook and Instagram.  Lawsuits against the companies will continue.   

Whistleblower after whistleblower, yet Section 230 protections for social media remain firmly in place.

Crypto, the currency of criminals, has "the promise" of solving all the world's problems.  My wise friend said:

So Bitcoin is an ASSET class, IF; 

We bribed the left, we bribed the right, we get rid of Gary Gensler at the SEC, We get Donald Trump to push it, we get rid of the SPR for oil and replace it with Bitcoin, we get all corporations to put it on the balance sheet, We get all the pension funds of all the cities across all of the United States to recognize and fund it as an asset class, we get the Federal Reserve to print print, print, print, print so there's excess liquidity for all the financial brokers to push on all their clients, because you know Wall Street's a selling machine, And then we ride off into the sunset with a $15 trillion valuation. Someone please explain how 21 million finite of anything saves us? And if none of this happened would it still be an asset class? Something is wrong here.
Another way to make your money disappear?  Gambling.  Next up, wagering on political races.  Polling is out and gambling is in as "the global truth machine."  How small can that "little t" get?  And political futures contracts, yes you can buy one for a fee.  It reads more addiction than asset.  

Citizens were right to vote for someone who'd reign in the actors manipulating predatory systems to their personal and financial benefit.  It's a shame none were on the ballot.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.  Add the TechGods, too.  It's the Red Team's turn to steer Uncle Sam's budget to their friends.

What once was free comment on the impact of corporate greed in healthcare has been replaced by an X registration fee for submitting ideas on reducing government spending (headed by two of the creepiest, greedy corporate types, one the CEO of X).

Update:  Trump's next FTC chair could be Abigail Slater, advisor to J.D. Vance and former Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Policy for the Internet Association.  Lately, she has been hanging out at Fox News as Senior Vice President for Policy and Strategy at Fox Corporation.

The President Elect's history with the FTC shows Trump is not a fan of disclosure.

Update 11-30-24:  Dr. Don Berwick testified before a Senate Committee on PEU harms in healthcare.  His testimony included:
Recent studies of private equity acquisitions of autism care programs show significant declines in staffing and increases in the use of “cookie cuter” care, rather than customizing care to individual patients’ need.2 The result is worse quality of care. Similarly, private equity ownership of nursing homes is associated with a 10% increase in mortality, lower patient mobility, and an 11% increase in costs.3 An important study by colleagues at Harvard last year comparing patient safety before and after private equity acquisition of hospitals showed major increases in important forms of avoidable and serious patient injuries. After PE purchase of hospitals, avoidable patient injuries increased 25.4% compared with hospitals not bought by PE.4 For example, patient falls rose by 27.3%, central intravenous line infections rose by 37.7%, and surgical infections doubled, from 10.8 per 10,000 hospitalizations to 21.6. And, anecdotally, my email inbox is full of disturbing reports from physicians and other clinicians about the changing circumstances of their practices as profit-seeking overtakes patient protection.

Update 1-20-25:  Vivek Ramaswamy is out as co-head of DOGE so you can remove the "S" at the end of Department of Greedy Executives (DOGE).  It's just Elon now.

Update 2-10-25:  Jon Lonsdale's 8VC joined Elon Musk's xAI bid for OpenAI which came in at $97.4 billion.  Other investors include  include Valor Equity Partners, Baron Capital, Atreides Management, Vy Capital and Ari Emanuel's Endeavor.

Update 3-5-25:  TechGod of Spying Palantir stands to grow its AI business with Uncle Sam.  Palantir cut its teeth protecting Bilderbergers.

Update 7-22-25: xAI seeks $12 billion in debt for Colossus 2 expansion via Valor Equity Partners.  Collateral for the last $5 billion raise is Grok IP.  I thought TechGods did not believe in IP.  How much of that Grok IP for the last raise was stolen?    

Update 11-10-25:  ProPublica reported:
In August, the CFPB sued the Andreessen-backed banking software company Synapse Financial Technologies Inc., which had declared bankruptcy as the agency probed whether it lost track of millions of dollars in customer funds. But the action has so far resulted in little redress — the now-defunct company agreed to pay a $1 fine and it’s unclear whether the agency will tap its own funds to compensate consumers. A lawyer who represented Synapse didn’t return a call and email seeking comment and the company’s founder didn’t respond to a LinkedIn message.
Andreesen's move to Washington likely helped him greatly.  Synapse customers?  Not so much..

Update 12-6-25:  Lonsdale said he wants to invest in Iran.  Joe must be studying under the mullahs given his desire for public executions done by masculine leadership.  

It's imperative to use all that information obtained from spying on U.S. citizens.  Otherwise Uncle Sam may quit paying the TechGods billions.