Geithner Takes Top Post at Warburg in Shift to Buyouts From Bailouts

Geithner Takes Top Post at Warburg in Shift to Buyouts From Bailouts (Bloomberg)

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 52, will be able to tap his vast professional network when he becomes president at the buyout firm Warburg Pincus LLC, starting March 1. He will help manage the company, invest its funds and communicate with investors, New York-based Warburg Pincus announced. Geithner is the latest one-time government official to transition into the private equity industry — following the lead of retired Army Gen. David Petraeus and former Treasury Secretary John Snow. Top executives in private equity typically receive higher pay than in government as their new employers seek to draw on their relationships and experience to find new business. Geithner’s post-Treasury options may have been limited by his role as the most senior economic official from the Obama administration team that grappled with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. His past roles at the Treasury Department and New York Federal Reserve linked him with the bailout of companies that include Citigroup (C) Inc., General Motors Co. and American International Group Inc. To avoid at least the potential appearance of a conflict of interest in certain industries, Geithner reportedly viewed the business of private equity, where managers invest client money rather than the company’s own assets, as different from the world of banking.