Richard C. Blum

Richard C. Blum is an investment banker and the husband of United States Senator from California Dianne Feinstein. He is the Chairman and President of Blum Capital Partners, L.P., an equity investment management firm that acts as general partner for various investment partnerships and provides investment advisory services. He founded the firm in 1975. Blum is also chair of the University of California Board of Regents and a Director of several companies, including CB Richard Ellis.

Education

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his B.S. in business administration in 1958, and an MBA in 1959, both degrees coming from the Haas School of Business.

Controversy

Blum's wife, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has received scrutiny due to husband Richard Blum's government contracts and extensive business dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Blum has denied any wrongdoing, however. [http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5529371?nclick_check=1] Critics have argued that business contracts with the US government awarded to a company (Perini) controlled by Blum may raise a potential conflict of issue with the voting and policy activities of his wife. [cite web | title= Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict | accessdate=April 2 | accessyear=2006 | url=http://www.bohemian.com/metro/01.24.07/dianne-feinstein-0704.html ] However, these charges have never been substantiated.

Blum did hold over 111,000 shares of stock in URS Corporation, which is now one of the top defense contractors in the United States. URS bought EG&G, a leading provider of technical services and management to the U.S. military, from The Carlyle Group in 2002. Carlyle's trusty advisers, past and present, include former President George H.W. Bush, James Baker, and ex-SEC Commissioner Arthur Levitt, among other prominent neoconservatives and Washington power brokers.

URS and Blum have since banked on the Iraq war, scoring a $600 million contract through EG&G. As a result, URS has seen its stock price more than triple since the war began in March 2003. Blum has cashed in over $2 million on this venture alone and another $100 million for his investment firm.

"As part of EG&G's sale price," reports the San Francisco Chronicle, "Carlyle acquired a 21.74 percent stake in URS – second only to the 23.7 percent of shares controlled by Blum Capital."

The Carlyle Group has long been accused of exploiting its political connections to turn a profit.

Owen Blicksilver, Blum's spokesman, claims his boss and Sen. Feinstein have never talked shop at home in their gated mansion: "Mr. Blum and Sen. Feinstein have never had any discussions about outsourcing, government contracts, or URS."Fact|date=August 2008

Boards

On March 12, 2002, Blum was appointed by California Governor Gray Davis to a 12-year term as one of the Regents of the University of California. Blum also serves on the boards of the following companies:
* CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (Chairman)
* Newbridge Capital, LLC (co-Chairman)
* CurrentTV

Blum has a strong interest in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. In 1981 he attempted to climb Mount Everest from the Tibetan side with Sir Edmund Hillary. He is the Chairman and founder of the American Himalayan Foundation, or AHF, which has given millions of dollars to build hospitals and schools in Tibet and Nepal.

In addition to the AHF, Blum’s not-for-profit endeavors include service as Trustee of The Carter Center; member of the Board of Trustees of The Brookings Institution; former Co-Chairman of the The World Conference of Religions for Peace; Member of Governing Council of The Wilderness Society; and Member of the Board of Trustees of the American Cancer Society Foundation.

References

* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/11/BU18813.DTL Biographical sketch in the San Francisco Chronicle]
* [http://www.blumcapital.com/ Blum Capital Partners, L.P.]
* [http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regbios/blum.html Blum Biography] at the University of California
* " [http://www.thestate.com/mld/cctimes/2002/08/04/business/3797001.htm Richard Blum hones art of upping shareholder value.] " Loren Steffy; Bloomberg News; August 4, 2002.
* " [http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc2008035_855093_page_2.htm Al Gore's Convenient IPO.] " [Grover is Los Angeles bureau chief for BusinessWeek. ] ; businessweek.com; [March 6, 2008, 12:01AM EST ] .

External links

* " [http://www.bohemian.com/metro/01.24.07/dianne-feinstein-0704.html Senator Feinstein's Iraq Conflict: Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms] " Peter Byrne, North Bay Bohemian, Jan. 24, 2007.
* " [http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/02.21.07/byrne-0708.html Blum's Plums: Conflicts of interest benefitted Blum's firms during his term as a UC Regent] " Peter Byrne, North Bay Bohemian, Feb. 21, 2007.