Young Spencer Zwick was Mitt Romney's campaign finance director with a twist. He did so through his own private business. I think this is a twist.
Zwick isn’t employed by the campaign. Instead, SJZ, LLC, a Boston company he formed that has taken in nearly $5 million for “fundraising consulting” from Romney this election season.
Watchdog groups, meanwhile, complain that the consultants make it hard to tell where campaign cash is ultimately going—some firms have been tied to the super PAC backing Romney. "If there are important people working for this firm who get favors down the line during a President Romney administration, you will never know about that," a Sunlight Foundation director says.
Well, yeah! Isn't this the goal?
Actually, Slick Zwick's SJZ, Inc took in $9,690,266
Gee, I wonder if small donors know about Zwick's windfall at their expense?
And Zwick is simultaneously keeping an eye on funding his & Tagg Romney's private equity firm, Solamere.
So many interests, so much money, so little time. Sigh!
Rove must like Zwick & Tagg Romney.
Karl Rove Gave Secret Speech Outside Romney Donor Retreat for Solamere.
Meg Whitman likes Zwick, too. Meg paid Zwick's SJZ Inc. $564,046 and Solamere $96,000, where Meg's son, Griffith R. Harsh IV became a junior analyst. The payments to Solamere were for the services of Mason J Fink who left Solamere when Meg's son joined Solamere.
Some true stories are so hard to follow that it really helps to have flow charts.
Welcome to the world of Muckety, a fun tool for those who enjoy visually connecting the dots.
Sadly, the Muckety interactive link won't work here. So, click here to connect with the interactive version of this Meet Spencer Zwick map
You can click on Muckety and search for a person, entity, or company. If Muckety has done the work, you will see a map.
I rearrange the maps to make more sense to me and then save and bookmark my work.
MUKETY NOTE: The SOLID LINES represent current relationships and the dotted lines represent previous relationships. I separate them first, placing the current relationships on the left and previous relationships on the right.
LET'S LOOK AT SPENCER ZWICK above.
QUICK BACKGROUND:
Spencer Zwick grew up in Salt Lake City and Brazil where his dad worked for the Mormon Church.
It is worth noting that Spencer's father, W. Craig Zwick, was one of the 70 top leaders of the Mormon Church and was the leader for the Northeast area of the USA in 2001.
Therefore, it's a reasonable conclusion to state that Mitt Romney was acquainted with President Zwick.
I can't find confirmation that Zwick graduated from BYU or any college. I think he was born in 1979.
He served an LDS Church mission to Bangkok, Thailand and returned to BYU in either 1999 or 2000.
The languages he learned landed him a spot translating documents for the Olympic organizing committee and praise from the committee's top guy, Mitt Romney.
As Romney headed further into the media and public spotlight, he asked Zwick to serve as his personal aide. Zwick hasn't left his side since.
Apparently, Spencer Zwick is also a whiz kid whether or not he got a college degree.
Of course, Zwick also got to know Tagg Romney, who is also the nephew of G Scott Romney, an attorney. I suspect G Scott Romney helped these young men run the legal gauntlets to set up Solamere. G Scott Romney now serves as a Solamere Advisor.
It's all who you know!
Since 2008, Tagg, Spencer, and Eric are all millionaires now. I love how they pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.
According to this SEC document about $200,000,000 in shares to be sold of SOLAMERE FOUNDERS FUND I LP, dated June 1, 2008 the Three Boys will be paid a total of $16,800,000 "Estimated aggregate amounts for first six years, and the Issuer will continue to pay management fees thereafter." In the document the Three Boys DECLINED TO DISCLOSE the issuer size.
The same $16,800,000 "The amount represents an estimate of the aggregate management fees payable in the first 6 years; the Issuer will continue to pay management fees thereafter.
is reiterated in this 2009-05-29 SOLAMERE FOUNDERS FUND I LP SEC document.
It is interesting to note that no Broker/Dealer is named. The investors are such trusting people.
Speaking of which,the first investor was key to beefing up Solamere:
About a month after Mitt Romney ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in February 2008, Tagg, and Zwick, met with a beef company executive who had been a major campaign donor, John R. Miller, with a business proposition: the opportunity to invest in a private equity fund they were starting, Solamere Capital.
Neither had experience in private equity. But what the close friends did have was the Romney name and a Rolodex of deep-pocketed potential investors who had backed Mr. Romney’s presidential run — more than enough to start them down that familiar path from politics to profit.
Mr. Miller is now on the Solamere Management team along with
Allan Dowds and
Lee Scott, chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart Stores and former President and CEO of WalMart.
Deep roots and deep pockets make it so much easier for young men to get a grip on those boot straps!
But, please have some compassion for these handsome, physically fit, hugely well-connected and now uber wealthy young men. Uber wealth has it's challenges.
Tagg has faced one difficult ethics issue:
Spencer Zwick, not a political operative, had to find his niche. He learned he was a whiz at raising money for Mitt. There has been a rumor that the Mormon Church elite helped make that happen. But let's give Spencer all the credit
"40 CEOs have provided the capital for Solamere" says Zwick.
At age 25 Spencer Zwick was running the Office of the Governor in Massachussetts as Deputy Chief of Staff for Mitt Romney.
Really! Mitt Romney delegated the Chief-of-Staff position as Governor to a 25 year old kid who had never held a job other than helping Mitt. What is his tie with this young man anyway?
Oh, right. Many.