Roger Charles Altman (born April 2, 1946) is an American
investment banker, the founder and senior chairman of
Evercore, and a former
Democratic politician. He served as
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the
Carter administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican Presiden ...
from January 1977 until January 1981 and as
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over ...
from January 1993 until he resigned in August 1994, amid the
Whitewater controversy.
Early life and education
Altman was born in
Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
, Massachusetts, and was raised in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
as a Catholic.
His father, a food broker, died when he was 10 years old, and his mother, a librarian, raised Altman and his brother as a single mother. He attended the
Roxbury Latin School
The Roxbury Latin School is a private boys' day school that was founded in 1645 in the town of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury (now a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts) by the Rev. John Eliot (missionary), John Eliot under a charter rec ...
.
He attended
Georgetown University, where he met future President
Bill Clinton, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967. In 1969 he earned an
MBA from the
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth or Booth) is the graduate business school of the University of Chicago. Founded in 1898, Chicago Booth is the second-oldest business school in the U.S. and is associated with 10 N ...
, but took time off in 1968 to work in
Indiana organizing volunteers for
Robert F. Kennedy's
presidential campaign
President most commonly refers to:
* President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
.
Career
Early career
After graduating from business school in 1969, Altman began working at
Lehman Brothers, where he grew close to chairman
Peter G. Peterson
Peter George Peterson (June 5, 1926 – March 20, 2018) was an American investment banker who served as United States Secretary of Commerce from February 29, 1972, to February 1, 1973, under the Richard Nixon administration. Before serving as Sec ...
. In 1974, he was made general partner at the age of 28—the youngest in Lehman's history. He left Lehman in 1977 to serve as
Assistant Secretary for Domestic Finance in the
U.S. Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
from 1977 to 1981 under President
Jimmy Carter, for whom he had fundraised when Carter was
Governor of Georgia, and campaigned for in 1976, as well as working on his transition team.
[ As Assistant Secretary, Altman played a "role in negotiating the Federal Government's $1.5 billion bailout of the ]Chrysler Corporation
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...
."[
In 1981, he returned to Lehman Brothers, where he became the co-head of investment banking and served on the board of the company and the management committee. During the 1980s, he was a lecturer and adjunct professor at the Yale University School of Management. In 1987, Altman joined the ]Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
as vice-chairman and head of its mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
advisory business. During the Reagan-Bush years, he fundraised for Democratic politicians such as Vice President Walter F. Mondale, Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...
, and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. He also advised two New York City Mayors, Ed Koch and David N. Dinkins.[
]
Clinton administration
When Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, he urged U.S. Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
Secretary Lloyd Bentsen to take Altman on as his Deputy Secretary
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain ...
. He was confirmed in January 1993. Once on the job, Altman was viewed as "the favorite to succeed the 73-year-old Treasury Secretary," and he played a large role in some of the Clinton administration's biggest legislative victories, such as the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the "approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement."[ He was associated with the moderate economic policies of the Clinton administration" and had a reputation as a "]deficit hawk
Deficit hawk is a political slang term in the English speaking world for people who place great emphasis on keeping government budgets under control. 'Hawk' can be used to describe someone calling for harsh or pain-inducing measures (alluding to t ...
."
However, he resigned in 1994, after it was revealed that Altman had notified the Clinton White House of the criminal referrals made by the Resolution Trust Corporation. After nearly 15 hours of testimony in February 1993 before the House and Senate Banking Committees, he submitted his resignation in August 1994, saying that he hoped his resignation would "help to diminish the controversy." He was succeeded by Frank N. Newman, who was the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the time.[
]
Return to private sector
In 1995, instead of returning to Blackstone, he co-founded Evercore, an "independent investment banking advisory firm" in New York City, and currently serves as its chairman. By 2014, Evercore was "a major player," and its investment management arm had more than $14 billion in assets under management, with its investment banking advisory arm boasting $1.5 trillion in "announced transactions." Evercore advised General Motors through its bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
, and was paid $46 million by GM pre-bankruptcy. However, when it asked for a $17.9 million "success fee," a U.S. bankruptcy trustee called the fees "staggering," "inordinately large," and "clearly xceedingthe bounds of reasonableness" given that "Evercore had no success at finding a purchaser or funder for the Debtors."
Politically, Altman continued to stay in the loop. He advised two presidential candidates—John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he p ...
in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2008. In 2010, President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
interviewed him as a potential candidate to replace Larry Summers as his National Economic Council director,[ a job that ultimately went to Gene Sperling.
]
Other activities
Altman has sat on the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the N ...
since 2006, Vice Chairman of the Board of the American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inte ...
, and Chairman of New Visions for Public Schools. Additionally, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York City ...
, a Director of Conservation International
Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia.
CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...
, and an Advisory Council member for The Hamilton Project, a Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ...
economic policy initiative.
Altman is listed as a member of the Steering Committee of The Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...
, a controversial group of influential business and government leaders who meet annually behind closed doors to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. He participated in all their conferences between 2008 and 2016.
Personal life
His first marriage to Barbara ended in divorce, and he remarried at age 35 to journalist Jurate Kazickas in 1981. The Rev. James N. English of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
performed the marriage ceremony at the San Luis Rey Chapel at Cat Cay in the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
. They adopted three children. In 1992, he collapsed while jogging in Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
due to an irregular heartbeat
Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...
.[ His hobbies include jogging, skiing, fly-fishing, and tennis.][
]
Selected writings
*
*
* (with Richard Haass
Richard Nathan Haass (born July 28, 1951) is an American diplomat. He has been president of the Council on Foreign Relations since July 2003, prior to which he was Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State and a close ...
)
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altman, Roger
1946 births
Catholics from Massachusetts
Clinton administration personnel
Georgetown University alumni
Living people
Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group
Private equity and venture capital investors
Roxbury Latin School alumni
The Blackstone Group people
United States Deputy Secretaries of the Treasury
University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni