Mnuchin's Chief of Staff Eli Miller Plans to Join Blackstone
Mnuchin's Chief of Staff Eli Miller Plans to Join Blackstone
(Bloomberg) -- Eli Miller, most recently chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is joining investing giant Blackstone Group LP.
Miller will work on public policy at the world’s largest alternative asset manager, according to a spokeswoman for New York-based Blackstone. Mnuchin last week announced that Miller is leaving the Treasury Department.
The 36-year-old will take the job after two years as Mnuchin’s top aide. Miller’s role has been less as a Wall Street liaison and more a trusted adviser to Mnuchin, helping ensure his boss’s political survival in a White House full of adversaries vying for influence.
Miller, who joined Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in May 2016, has served a key role as a political insider in the administration, helping Mnuchin stay out of the firing line of a volatile president who has dismissed cabinet members via Twitter.
Varied Tasks
Miller’s job as chief of staff has included everything from serving as a body man, note-taking for Mnuchin during calls with foreign leaders and helping open a line of communication with Chinese officials. He was also part of Trump’s team that chose David Malpass to run the World Bank.
“Over the past three years he has been constantly at my side, and he will be very difficult to replace,” Mnuchin said in a statement Friday announcing Miller’s departure. Miller is leaving Treasury this week, a person familiar with the matter said.
Wall Street firms often hire former government officials in part for their relationships with people in the administration and access to them. In Miller, Blackstone gets one of Mnuchin’s closest confidantes. The pair got to know each other while traveling together during the Trump campaign. Mnuchin and his wife are godparents to Miller’s older son.
Miller joins Blackstone lobbyist Wayne Berman, deepening the firm’s bench in Washington. Berman was chairman of Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, where Miller also worked.
Blackstone, which manages $472 billion in real estate, private equity, credit and other investments, has other significant ties to the Trump administration. Its chairman, Steve Schwarzman, led Trump’s economic council before it dissolved in the wake of the president’s reaction to violence in Charlottesville, North Carolina. Schwarzman has also contributed to the Republican National Committee and Trump’s re-election campaign.
Axios reported the hire earlier Tuesday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Heather Perlberg in Washington at hperlberg@bloomberg.net;Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Alan Mirabella
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