Ted Wheeler During the Gordon Gekko Era

Monday, March 07, 2016

GoLocalPDX News Team and Kate Nagle

As Wheeler was going into banking, the movie "Wall Street" and the novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" were dominating American culture

The early part of Ted Wheeler’s career was prototypical for a young man focused on becoming an investment banker.

It was the late 1980’s -- the era of Tom Wolfe’s “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and the movie “Wall Street. ” And it was the latter's lead character Gordon Gekko who expounded “Greed is Good.”

Wheeler was that young man.

High-Flying Start

First, Wheeler earned an economics degree from Stanford, then worked for Bank of America as an analyst from 1985 to 1987, and then took off to one of the top “B-Schools” in the country entering in 1987.

As the New York Times wrote in its review of “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” – “He's all surface, is Sherman, and when he blunders off the expressway into the welfare jungle of the South Bronx in his $48,000 Mercedes, into the biggest trouble of his heretofore charmed life, he is without reserves of experience, imagination or moral awareness with which to guide himself.”

After earning a MBA from Columbia Business School, Wheeler launched his own real estate investment firm in Marblehead, MA. Wheeler founded and was President of Bay State Capital Fund for nearly five years – he closed the company in 1999. Wheeler has refused to respond to questions about his experience.

By 1999, Wheeler was back in Portland working at investment and wealth management firm Copper Mountain Trust. He rose to Vice President and when the firm, with $6 billion under management and 70 employees sold to Union Bank, Wheeler stayed for a couple of years under the new ownership group according to SEC documents.

Today, Union Bank is part of Japanese mega-bank Mitsubishi (the 9th largest Bank in America).

After his tenure with Cooper Mountain,Wheeler started an investment firm.

According to his CV, Wheeler's firm Lhotse Capital Management invested in “emerging companies.” Little is known about the firm, which was not registered with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Corporation Division.

The firm did not register with the State of Oregon's Securities Division either - something an investment firm was required to do.

From Wheeler's CV - listing his investment firm in Portland in the early 2000's.

Next Stop, Multnomah County

Over the next few years, Wheeler had shifted his vocation from banker, investor, and money manager to politician. His theme in his campaign materials in 2005 was, “I’m running for County Chair to make our county government work again.”

In campaign materials from that first race in 2006, Wheeler leveraged his investment experience. Subsequently in future elections and the race for Mayor of Portland, references to his banking and investment experience disappeared from his campaign materials and bios.

“As a former Director and manager of a trust company with thousands of clients who trusted us with nearly $6 billion of their money, I take fiduciary responsibility for the taxpayers funds very seriously and will demand the same from members of my administration,” said Wheeler.

Great Recession and Wheeler’s Disappearing Banking Experience

In 2007 and 2008, the United States and the global economy nearly collapsed in part due to the financial flaws of mortgaged back securities. From then on, Wheeler in his campaign matters, bios and narrative on his experience dropped the references to his banking and investment experience. Only on some versions of his Treasurer’s office bios there were some references, but in short order Wheeler’s bios began stressing his community work and experiences climbing Mount Everest over his ten years an a banker and investor.

As bankers and real estate speculators became more and more unpopular, references to those ten plus years of Wheelers’ experience nearly disappeared from his disclosure.

Today, Wheeler claims progressive roots and his campaign material for Mayor of Portland says he holds Wall Street accountable, but as GoLocalPDX reported last week, a University of Maryland study found that under Wheeler’s leadership as Treasurer, Oregon pays the 5th highest Wall Street fee ratio in comparison to fund performance in the country. READ THE STORY HERE

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Nearly a month ago, GoLocalPDX submitted the following questions to Wheeler’s campaign.

READ GoLocalPDX’s questions and the Campaign’s response:

Questions submitted to Wheeler's campaign in early February:

Do you think running a major city like Portland requires business experience?
Between private sector experience and the Treasurer’s office are you the most experienced to run Portland?
Do you think voters want the City to be run by someone with business management experience?
Why don’t you put your banking experience in your bio?
On some of your bios you list "financial services industry executive” but in other cases it is omitted - why?
In contrast you always list climbing Mt. Everest - isn’t working in financial services and disclosing that more important to voters?
What other private business experience do you have?

Wheeler Campaign Response:

"To succeed, the next mayor of Portland is going to have both management experience and experience building coalitions. Ted's record of public service, first as Chair of Multnomah County then as State Treasurer shows he has the experience to lead and bring people together to solve our common challenges."