Former Bain execs defend firm’s past
By Chris Cassidy | Friday, January 13, 2012
Two former Bain executives came out swinging in defense of the politically pilloried venture capital firm yesterday — and one took his own shot at Bain-bashing GOP candidate Newt Gingrich.
“It’s about time he goes out and gets a job,” said Tom Stemberg, a former Bain exec who co-founded Staples with former Gov. Mitt Romney. “Newt Gingrich has been living off your and my taxpayer dollars. ... The fact that he’s getting away with this and representing himself as private sector is nauseating.”
A pro-Gingrich super PAC has pushed a 28-minute film assailing Romney’s record at Bain, charging he reaped massive rewards while workers lost their jobs. On the campaign trail, Romney’s been attacked as a “vulture capitalist.”
Bain insiders, however, said the company has gotten a bad rap.
“Bain Capital is a great American success story. The people that work there are brilliant managers and strategists. They don’t look at opportunities and think how they can go in and pillage and destroy businesses,” said Jonathan Kraft, president of The Kraft Group and the New England Patriots [ team stats]. “I don’t believe the employees of any individual company as a group are more philanthropic with their money and with their time than the partners of Bain Capital.”
Kraft’s father, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, an original investor in Bain, also defended the company yesterday on CNBC.
“When I see people banging on Bain — and I think the largest investors (in Bain) are really state and union pension funds, which are working class people — and I see the vitriol going on, it’s really horrible,” Kraft said. “We have to put America first.”
Stemberg said Bain has helped companies such as Staples, Sports Authority, Domino’s Pizza and Bright Horizons Day Care thrive, creating more than 100,000 jobs.
Stemberg said of Romney: “He’s an inspirational leader who contributed meaningfully to the success of many great companies.”
Article URL: bostonherald.com |
