Jeb Bush is beginning the process of disentangling himself from financial relationships that could cause him difficulties in a 2016 presidential bid.
According to the L.A. Times, on Christmas Eve, Bush exited Tenet Healthcare Corp., a company that has actively supported and benefited from Obamacare. Bush earned both cash and stock worth about $300,000 from Tenet last year and sold $1.1 million of Tenet stock in 2013, as well.
“Mr. Bush is not resigning on account of any disagreement with Tenet,” the company reportedly told the Times.
Bush’s aides say he has also put an end to highly compensated speeches as he tours the country meeting with possible donors to discuss his own vision of how he would like to campaign.
In terms of his “vision” of the ideal president, last year, Bush told hundreds of people in Florida that if he were to assume the office, he would strive to be like Lyndon Baines Johnson.
“He went and he cajoled, he begged, he threatened, he loved, he hugged, he did what leaders do, which is they personally get engaged to make something happen,” he said of the former Democrat president.
In the same speech, Bush named passing immigration reform and education reforms as two of the ways he would generate that growth. A third prong of his plan involves ramping up North American energy production, a feature, Bush said, would not only create millions of jobs, but also cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Bush’s most recent financial endeavor is as a partner in three private funds that have raised $127 million for investments in foreign and domestic companies. Investment adviser Bill Parish said foreign investments could particularly cause Bush problems, as they will heighten scrutiny of the investors and the nature of their businesses.
“If he’s smart, he’s going to take care of it and shut them down,” Parish told the Times.
After leaving his native Texas, Bush moved to Miami in 1981, where his wife lived, and began to work for Armando Codina, a wealthy Cuban-born businessman, who eventually made Bush a partner in a south Florida real estate development firm.
Once he completed two terms as Florida’s governor, Bush left office in 2007 and set up Jeb Bush and Associates, a management consulting firm for which his son, Jeb Bush, Jr., serves as managing partner. Additionally, Bush was hired as a consultant to Lehman Brothers, but he moved on to Barclays after Lehman filed for bankruptcy in 2008. He also became involved in small start-up companies.
Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said Bush will quit Barclays by December 31, another sign that he is seriously preparing for a presidential run.
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