“The other thing that was fascinating to me: There was not a single hint of a protester anywhere [in Saudi Arabia] during the whole time we were there. Not one guy with a bad placard.”
—Wilbur Ross, on the administrations 2017 trip through Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (where protesting is illegal).
Secretary of Commerce
Feb. 28, 2017 –
A serial grifter not afraid to rip off his own investors, colleagues, and employees alike, Wilbur Ross is a man cut from the same cloth as the president himself and – one imagines – must feel right at home in his administration.
In the 1980’s, while senior managing director of Rothschild & Co. investment banking, Ross represented the investors of Donald Trump’s failing Atlantic Casinos. It was Ross who managed to convince bondholders to agree to a deal that greatly favored Trump, allowing him to retain control of the casinos rather then relinquish them for delinquent payments – and thus ingratiating himself to the future president.
Estimated net worth (2017): $600,000,000
Notables
- The U.S. House opened an investigation into Ross’ role in threatening to fire high-level staff at NOAA if they did not retract the weather organizations correction of President Trumps incorrect tweets regarding the path of Hurricane Dorian.
U.S. House panel probes Commerce Secretary Ross over Trump Dorian kerfuffle | Reuters (9.11.19)
- The Supreme Court found Wilbur Ross had “contrived” the rationale for adding a citizenship question to the U.S. Census; the justices stated they could not “ignore the disconnect between the decision made and the explanation given”.
Supreme Court Finds that Wilbur Ross Lied To Put Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census | ACLU (7.27.19)
- The Office of Government and Ethics declined to certify Ross’ financial disclosure for failing to divest from certain stocks he had agreed to divest from in his ethics agreements.
Gov’t Ethics Office Refuses to Certify Ross’ Financial Disclosure | Public Integrity (2.19.19)
- Is alleged to have stolen over $120M from former business associates of his private-equity firm WL Ross & Co.
Wilbur Ross alleged to have siphoned more than $120 million from associates, Forbes reports | Market Watch (8.7.18)
- Upon learning that the New York Times would report on his holdings in a company closely tied to Vladimir Putin and another Russian Oligarch, Ross shorted his own stock anticipating the drop – a blatant act of insider trading for a petty profit grab of $3,000 to $10,000.
After query, Ross shorted stock in Kremlin-tied firm | Associated Press (6.19.18)
- Although the exact amount of money Ross has stashed in offshore tax-havens is unclear, the ‘Paradise Papers’ leak of 2017 revealed unequivocally that the Commerce Secretary was a participant in the legally dubious tax dodging scheme.
Leaked documents reveal offshore dealings of top Trump officials | The Hill (11.15.17)
- Fined $2.3M and agreed to reimburse investors $11.8M in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for misallocation of investor funds.
SEC fines Wilbur Ross firm $2.3 million over fees | Reuters (8.24.16)
- Has been by sued by dozens of former employees and investors in a multiple lawsuits for pilfering investments by skimming interest and adding erroneous charges; many of the suits have settled while others are ongoing.
New Details About Wilbur Ross’ Business Point to Pattern of Grifting | Forbes (8.16.18)
Image credit: Gage Skidmore