After the 2008 failed presidential bid of Mitt Romney, Tagg Romney, Mitt’s eldest son, and Spencer Zwick, the campaign’s top fundraiser, started hitting up Romney donors to invest in a private equity startup.
Neither had experience in private equity. But what the close friends did have was the Romney name and a Rolodex of deep-pocketed potential investors who had backed Mr. Romney’s presidential run — more than enough to start them down that familiar path from politics to profit.
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It is not unusual for start-ups looking for investors to approach friends and relatives. But the overlap between the elder Romney’s political apparatus and Solamere adds a different, potentially nettlesome dimension, given the widespread presumption since the last presidential election that the former Massachusetts governor was next in line for the Republican nomination.
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Even so, Mitt Romney was the featured speaker at Solamere’s first investor conference in Deer Valley in January 2010. Mr. Romney, who made his fortune in private equity at Bain Capital, also gave early strategic advice.
So kids, if you want to make it in this world, have your daddy run for president. Then “borrow” his donor database and ask old donors for money so you too can start up a company.