Saturday, December 3, 2016

Missing Initials in Stories on Trump & PEU Petraeus


Stories on President elect Donald Trump's consideration of General David Petraeus for Secretary of State have abbreviations like DOD, CIA, ISIS, and FBI.  They don't have the initials KKR, a New York based private equity underwriter (PEU) with $131.1 billion in assets under management. Here's what he does for KKR:

Gen. Petraeus is involved in the KKR investment process and oversees the Institute's thought leadership platform focused on geopolitical and macro-economic trends, as well as environmental, social, and governance issues.
Bloomberg had this to say about KKR in an interview with billionaire founder Henry Kravis:

Private equity holds trillions of dollars in assets, controls brand-name companies, and invests on behalf of pensions, endowments, and government funds around the world. Back in 1976, it barely existed. That’s when Henry Kravis, his cousin George Roberts, and their boss Jerome Kohlberg Jr. quit Bear Stearns and started their eponymous investment company, KKR, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Kravis and Roberts, co-chief executive officers, have transformed not only how companies are bought and sold, but also how they’re run. They’ve also expanded the firm far beyond leveraged buyouts, diversifying into real estate and hedge funds as well as a few businesses once dominated by big banks. Today, through ownership stakes in more than 100 companies with a combined annual revenue of $200 billion, KKR indirectly employs almost a million people.
Politico, Counterpunch, and ABC News are three news organizations who failed to report General Petraeus' current job, Chairman of the KKR Global Institute.  In April 2015 Petraeus wrote in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The consequences for Washington’s getting the TPP right are huge: opening some of the world’s fastest-growing markets to more U.S. exports; improving U.S. competitiveness; growing the global middle class; creating jobs; and fostering the prosperous, open and rules-based Asia that is in everyone’s interest.
I don't believe Trump supporters would be excited about growing the global middle class as U.S. wages have been stagnant for twenty years.

The majority of people are sick of the status quo and feel they have been "abandoned by their leaders."--Stephen Hawking
Will General Petraeus change from a billionaire PEU boss to a billionaire President?  It's up to Donald Trump, currently changing out the blue PEU team in favor or the Reds.  Billionaires like yes men and Trump can call Henry Kravis for a reference on the General's work at KKR.  Sir, yes Sir!