John Podesta Earned Thousands Consulting for Green Energy Billionaires. He Now Oversees a Federal Fund That Could Make Them Rich.
Podesta’s net worth has skyrocketed since his time in the Obama administration, financial disclosures show
John Podesta (C), Senior Advisor to the President, listens as U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a Cabinet Meeting at the White House on September 06, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Biden has put Podesta in charge of distributing $369 billion in climate-related funds from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Andrew Kerr • December 15, 2022 3:30 pm
John Podesta, the powerful Democratic consultant who President Joe Biden tapped to oversee a multibillion-dollar climate investment fund, discussed those investments with an environmental group that had him on the payroll just months before, according to a new financial disclosure.
Galvanize Climate Solutions, a green energy investment firm founded by billionaire Tom Steyer, participated in an Oct. 31 meeting with Podesta and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss how to best use the $369 billion in federal funds. Galvanize paid Podesta $84,000 in advisory fees from December 2021 through August 2022, financial disclosures show. Ethics watchdogs say Podesta hasn’t technically violated any laws but hosting his former employer at the meeting was ethically dubious.
“Alas, it’s a similar story these days, sophisticated players checking the necessary boxes to avoid clear violations while still appearing to advance the interests of former employers and clients,” said Michael Chamberlain, the director of the ethics watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust.
Podesta’s net worth has skyrocketed since he last served in the White House as counselor to former president Barack Obama. His net worth ranged between $4.6 million to $9.2 million in 2014, according to his financial disclosure that year. By 2022, his net worth ballooned to between $9.3 million to $28.4 million, according to a copy of his latest financial disclosure obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Steyer was jubilant after Biden tapped Podesta to lead the $369 billion fund, which was created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The billionaire said Podesta was the perfect choice to “champion” the climate investment fund in a gushing statement issued Sept. 9. Days later, on Sept. 13, Steyer said the fund represented a “transformative, revolutionary, unprecedented” investment opportunity for the clean energy industry.
Steyer isn’t Podesta’s only billionaire patron with a stake in the green energy industry. He reported receiving payments from the HJW Foundation,
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