Trump creates business advisory council stacked with CEOs (updated)

Blackstone Loan Financing

02/12/2016 19:57

(Adds details about how council was formed and future additions 
of tech company leaders) 
    By Ginger Gibson and Roberta Rampton 
    WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump 
announced the formation of a council to advise him on job 
creation, a group comprised of the leaders of a variety of major 
U.S. corporations including GE, GM, Boeing, Disney and IBM.  
    Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer of major 
investment firm Blackstone Group LP  BX.N , will chair the 
council.  
    "My administration is committed to drawing on private sector 
expertise and cutting the government red tape that is holding 
back our businesses from hiring, innovating, and expanding right 
here in America," Trump said in a statement announcing the 
formation of the council.  
    Trump called Schwarzman earlier this week to ask for his 
help in chairing the council, according to a source familiar 
with the discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly on 
the arrangements. The two men, who are not friends and have not 
done business together before, drafted a list of CEOs to ask to 
participate in the forum, and then Schwarzman asked each 
individual to participate. 
    The forum could meet as frequently as monthly, the source 
said.  
    Trump has said that his top priorities will include cutting 
regulations that affect business and lowering the corporate tax 
rate, positions business leaders have cheered.  
    Presidents often convene councils of business leaders. 
President Barack Obama frequently met with the CEOs of large 
companies and often spoke before the Business Roundtable, 
comprised of CEOs of big corporations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13Q0XL 
    In 2011, Obama convened a jobs council that was led by 
General Electric Co  GE.N  CEO Jeff Immelt and an export council 
headed by Xerox Corp  XRX.N  CEO Ursula Burns.     
    Obama and business leaders worked on trade, technology and 
immigration efforts. 
    Some members of Trump's council also served in advisory 
roles with Obama, including Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney Co 
 DIS.N ; Jim McNerney, former CEO of Boeing Co  BA.N  ; and 
Ginni Rometty, CEO of International Business Machines Corp 
 IBM.N . All three served on Obama's export council and will 
continuing advising the next administration. 
    Noticeably absent from the council are heads of leading U.S. 
technology companies such as Google's parent Alphabet Inc 
 GOOGL.O , Apple Inc  AAPL.O  and Facebook Inc  FB.O . Trump's 
transition team has been slow to establish a group to address 
cyber security and other technology issues.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1DH1Q8 
    The council could still add leaders from technology 
companies, a source familiar with the formation of the group 
said. 
     
    The members of Trump's council include: 
    * Stephen A. Schwarzman (Forum Chairman), chairman, CEO, and 
co-founder of Blackstone; 
    * Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, former 
commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission 
    * Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, General Motors Co  GM.N   
    * Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic 
    * Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co  JPM.N  
    * Larry Fink, chairman and CEO, BlackRock Inc  BLK.N  
    * Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Co 
    * Rich Lesser, president and CEO, Boston Consulting Group 
    * Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores Inc 
 WMT.N  
    * Jim McNerney, former chairman, president, and CEO, Boeing 
    * Adebayo "Bayo" Ogunlesi, chairman and managing partner, 
Global Infrastructure Partners 
    * Ginni Rometty, chairman, president, and CEO, IBM 
    * Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family distinguished visiting fellow 
in economics, Hoover Institute, former member of the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
    * Mark Weinberger, global chairman and CEO, EY 
    * Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO, General Electric 
    * Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winner, vice chairman of IHS 
Markit Ltd  INFO.O  
 
 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
The Trump administration    cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=us-2016 
Reuters.com politics section    http://www.reuters.com/politics 
Potential picks in a Trump Cabinet    http://tmsnrt.rs/2gnMg2W 
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 (Additional reporting by Gui Qing Koh and Gregory Roumeliotis; 
Editing by David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis) 
 ((ginger.gibson@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: USA TRUMP/CEOS