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May 24, 2013

Billionaire Backer of Obama Penny Pritzker Set to Become Commerce Secretary 
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The billionaire business tycoon Penny Pritzker appears headed for
confirmation as Commerce Secretary. Pritzker, whose family started the
Hyatt Hotel chain, is a close friend of President Obama and served as
the national finance chair of his 2008 presidential campaign. At her
confirmation hearing Thursday, Republican Sen. John Thune of South
Dakota asked about her ties to Superior Bank, a Chicago-based bank owned
by her family that failed after she and her family expanded subprime
lending there.

Sen. Thune: "Ultimately there were a number of the banks, uninsured
depositors that had claimed that they had lost over one hundred thousand
dollars worth of savings, including one who reportedly deposited her
entire retirement account with Superior a month before it failed. My
question is, and it's two parts: What do you have to say to those
depositors who lost significant sums of money because of this venture;
and what lessons did you learn from your experience at Superior Bank
that will inform your role as Secretary of Commerce if you're
confirmed."

Penny Pritzker: "Well, Senator, I regret the failure of Superior Bank.
It's was not an outcome or a situation that I am, you know, I feel very
badly about that."

If confirmed, Pritzker, with a net worth of over $1.5 billion, would
become one of the wealthiest cabinet secretaries in U.S. history.
Bloomberg News reported Pritzker recently inadvertently understated a
portion of her income by at least $80 million in a disclosure form
required for her nomination. Last year, Pritzker received more than $53
million in consulting fees from her family's offshore trust in the
Bahamas.

 

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