Government officials often avoid conflicts between professional obligations and personal finances by divesting company stocks from their portfolios. So it comes as a surprise that, along with the standard mutual funds, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner owns a small amount of stock in yoga clothing retailer Lululemon…Turns out, he purchased less than $1,000 worth of shares a few years ago to teach his two children about the stock market, press aide Steve Adamske says. Geithner picked the company partly because of his now college-age daughter’s interest in yoga—and as a hedge against her frequent Lululemon purchases, Adamske says. Additionally, Geithner owns $1,000 to $15,000 worth of IBM (IBM) stock, which he inherited. [BusinessWeek]
Tim Geithner
As should the rest of Team G-20. Read more »
“In the midst of debates on financial regulation and China’s currency in April,” Bloomberg reports today, “Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner sat down to discuss the U.S. economy– with comedian Jon Stewart.” Read more »
From a friend of DB:
“Bess– [Redacted] was seated next to me at [Manhattan restaurant] last night. I figured given the shitstorm Wall Street’s been through the last couple years he’d keep shop talk to a minimum. But, he didn’t hold back; I wasn’t making an effort to eavesdrop, but he’s not exactly the softest speaking gent in town and the tables are way too damn close. Anyway, his four main points I picked up:
Earlier today on CNBC, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus pitched a new TV series. “Take Timothy Geithner and put him in a new reality show,” Marcus told Squawk Box. “It’s called ‘Timothy Geithner Does Small Business’, something like ‘Debbie Does Dallas’, and it ends up the same way,” he said. ”Basically, what they [the government] is doing to small business is very similar in this case [to what ‘Debbie’ did to Dallas.]” Read more »
The actor said so as he was pretending to trade today at BCG Partners (for their annual charity day), when he also announced he’ll be playing the role of Tim Geithner in HBO’s Too Big Too Fail, which has got to have made the Treasury Secretary’s day and break the heart of every child actor hoping for the part. Read more »
“Tim was organized and low-key, although given to occasional bursts of profanity and odd fits of giggling,” claims Steve Rattner in his new autobiography, which he also writes that JPMorgan vice-Chairman Jimmy Lee is something of a “crybaby” and describes Sheila Bair as a “small, trim woman about my age with brown hair, brown eyes, and an unsmiling, sour demeanor.” [NYP via DI]
Help Me To Understand: How Stalking Kenneth Starr’s Pole Dancing Wife Is Going To Clear Wesley Snipes’ Name On Tax Evasion
By Bess Levin
As is widely known, Wesley Snipes was found guilty of tax evasion a little while back, a charge which the actor believes to be bull shit. Because he would prefer not to go to prison for three years, Wes is attempting to appeal the verdict. Separately, Snipes was once a client of accused Ponzi schemer Kenneth Starr, who it came out several months ago had screwed a bunch of investors out of a bunch of money. These are two seemingly unrelated matters. And yet, today there is this:
The pole-dancer wife of accused Ponzi schemer Ken Starr claims private eyes for Wesley Snipes have been stalking her in a bid to find evidence to clear the actor of tax charges.
Remember last year, when not a day went by without people claiming Tim Geithner was getting fired and the White House had supposedly all but forced him to move into an office in the basement where the pipes leaked so that they could prepare the place for Jamie Dimon, who we were to believe was TG replacement? That died down for a bit, in part because Geithner’s pussy outreach program was pretty successful and also because he came in handy for pick-up games. Mostly, though, it was because Obama and Dimon’s relationship hit the skids and the President needed to find someone else to make Geithner worry about. Allegedly he has. And his name is Mike.
Is Mayor Bloomberg being wooed to join the Obama administration? Asked about last weekend’s four-hour golf game with President Obama on Martha’s Vineyard, Bloomberg told reporters yesterday, “The economy was the main subject, other than discussing golf.” Now there are whispers that the president went even further and sounded out Bloomberg about whether he would join his foundering economic team as treasury secretary, replacing prime blame-target Timothy Geithner.
Woman Accusing Geithner’s Treasury Of Sexism Clearly Never Seen The Secretary In The Kitchen
By Bess Levin
She’s got her very own rap video calling for her appointment as head of a federal consumer protection agency but, so far, Elizabeth Warren has received nary a peep of support from Tim Geithner. It’s the White House, and not the Treasury’s call to make, of course, but never you mind that. People are demanding to know why TG hasn’t failed to get behind Liz on this one. You want to know why? According to National Organization of Women president Terry O’Neill, it’s because Tim Geithner is sexist.
“As an outsider,” O’Neill said, “I think he’s a man with such deep ties to Wall Street that I don’t know how the sexism of that industry hasn’t imbued his Treasury…Treasury is a notoriously sexist and misogynist industry and the good old boys don’t like her,” the NOW president said. “It’s the testosterone-fueled attitude that drove our economy off a cliff, and yet the president has advisers that are from that industry….It’s a combination of [Warren's] attitude and her anatomy.”
Tim Geithner Getting Crap For Trying To Save A Little Cash, Maybe Helping A Friend Get A Job
By Bess Levin
Around these parts, we’ve talked about Tim Geithner’s housing troubles at length. The Treasury Secretary and his wife Carole bought a Larchmont Tudor in 2004 for $1.602 million. Then buddy boy got a gig in DC and they tried to sell it March for $1.635 million. When that didn’t take, the price was dropped to $1.575 million. No dice. T. Geith was then reduced to renting the place out for $7,500/month, which many helpfully pointed out probably didn’t even cover the li’l fella’s mortgage payments. For perhaps not having a good read on the housing market and for also thinking anyone would pay over a mill for a ghastly-looking bathroom in desperate need of a re-tile, Geithner took a lot of shit. But hey! At least he had the good sense to not then take out, say, a mortgage on a second home he couldn’t afford before selling his Westchester palace, right, instead choosing to bunk rent free with a college buddy living in the District, which some people are now giving TG shit for, because his ex-roomie just took a gig at JPMorgan. Read more »
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