Neel Kashkari

  • 17 Nov 2010 at 5:16 PM

Neel Kashkari Gives The Bailout Two Thumbs Up

By Bess Levin

When we last checked in with Neel Kashkari in December 2009, he wasn’t doing so hot. He’d barely escaped from the Treasury intact and was holed up in the woods starving himself in an effort to lose the 20 pounds he’d put on working with Hank but even more so to exorcise the demons he’d acquired during the worst year of his life. Fast forward 11 months later and it appears that time really does heal all (as does the daily Conga line around the PIMCO office). Kashkari is refreshed, happy, and finally ready to speak about Project TARP, which he did on Bloomberg TV this morning. At the time, Kash-K says, the bailout felt a lot like giving yourself an at-home budget colonic but in hindsight it’s something he can now appreciate.

“In the worst moments of the crisis, I didn’t know if we’d get even a dollar back. I thought it would cost all $700 billion at the worst moments. I certainly didn’t think we’d get any money back from the auto companies or AIG. The fact that they’re now getting healthier and in a position to pay back some of the money, hopefully all of it, is a resounding success beyond my own wildest dreams. The American people should feel very good about it. We did something very unpleasant, distasteful, but it was effective and much less costly than we expected.”

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  • 08 Dec 2009 at 2:32 PM

Neel Kashkari: The Photoshoot

By Bess Levin

Yesterday, the Washington Post treated us to an in-depth look at that $700 billion in rescue money being a number pulled out of Hank Paulson’s ass, and Neel Kashkari’s attempts to lose the weight he gained in DC while he lives in the woods and builds a shed. Now let’s take a peek at the absolutely epic slideshow that accompanied that story.

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  • 07 Dec 2009 at 12:44 PM

PIMCO Hires Neel Kashkari

By Bess Levin

neelkashkari2.jpgEarlier today we discussed Neel Kashkari’s weight problem (he’s determined to lose the 20 pounds he gained while working for the Treasury). We thought it seemed a bit extreme that he would, by his own admission, skip dinner many nights in order to reach his target, but now it’s all become clear. He’s on a deadline to look good in a bathing suit, having taken a gig with PIMCO in Newport Beach. Here’s the full letter from Bill Gross and and Mohamed El-Erian to clients (courtesty of a Dealbreaker Commenter):

December 7, 2009
To our valued clients:
As we come to the end of 2009, we would like to thank you for your continued confidence in PIMCO and share with you some thoughts on the future evolution of our firm.
Over the last couple of years, we have undertaken significant work on the emergence of what we have called the “new normal” for the global economy, and for financed-based economies in particular (including the US). We have also derived implications for our investment strategies, now and going forward.

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  • 07 Dec 2009 at 10:00 AM

Mountain Man Neel Kashkari Has Almost Lost All The Weight He Gained At The Treasury

By Bess Levin

neelkashkari.jpgAs previously mentioned, Neel Kashkari has been living in the woods since leaving the Treasury. Up in his secluded mountain cabin in California, Kashkari has been undergoing a four-step program of his own design called “Washington detox.” It involves building a shed, chopping wood, helping Hank Paulson with his book and losing 20 pounds. You might’ve thought that working 24 hours a day would’ve left the little guy gaunt and malnourished but au contraire– Kashkari packed on the lbs like it was his job, mostly by never having time to working out and dining on “family-size Cool Ranch Doritos.” And he’s determined to lose the weight not simply because he wants to fit into his old pants but because of what the fat around his waist represents– the most miserable year of his life. Yes, these are not just your average inches of flab. Each molecule of fat is a Congressman berating him on the hill. It’s him nearly having a heart attack while working on his first TARP report. It’s Paulson looking at him with eyes that say, “Maybe you should skip dessert tonight.” It’s a demon.

It’s personal, this — him vs. Washington. “It’s detox of a tough period,” Kashkari says later, wiping his forehead. “Through exercise like running, but exorcize is relevant, too.”

He’s been working hard, but he’s not there yet, and until he is, dinner is out.

Now, after six months of dieting and 45-mile alpine bike rides, the gym scale under Kashkari’s sneakers reads: 181.2. “No dinner tonight,” he grumbles.
“Are you detox’d yet?” A friend had messaged. Not until he weighs 180.

If it sounds like Kashkari’s being a little extremist with his diet, it’s just because he really, really doesn’t want to be compared to Larry Summers.

In Washington, Kashkari, about 5-foot-10, had ballooned — “I’m a stress eater” — to 203 pounds. His waistband cut into the folds of his stomach. His biceps felt like “bags of Jell-O.”…He’s put on classic stress-related weight under his chin.

But anyone can see Kashkari has made a lot of progress. Even his (prick?) former boss, whose book Kashkari is reliving the horror of last year in order to help edit, is noticing, and offering backhanded compliments.

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  • 26 Oct 2009 at 10:00 AM

Neel Kashkari Has A Message For Lloyd Blankfein: YOU LIE!

By Bess Levin

What has Neel Kashkari been up to lately? Chopping wood, mostly, in attempt to “decompress” from the stress of last year, up at a “secluded mountain cabin” in California. Getting away from it all has helped Hank Paulson’s little buddy center himself and offered some serious time for reflection. And up there, in the woods, decked out in flannel, know what he’s reflected on a whole lot? The fact that his former employer, who will not be name-checked at this time for security purposes, is full of shit. (Leaving names out of this on the off-chance Kash-K decides he wants to return to the golden ball pit.)

“Every single Wall Street firm, despite their protest today, every single one benefited from our actions,” he said. “And when they get up there and say, ‘Well, we didn’t need it,’ that’s bull.
“They did need it. And they’re all happy with the actions that we took, and they need to show restraint today.”

As for you, Representative Cummings, why don’t you come out to my cabin and we’ll settle once and for all who the chump is? Let’s see your clippers.
The Economic Bomb That Didn’t Drop [NYT via NYM]