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Ex-Amex CEO Ken Chenault is a top candidate for jobs in a Harris administration

Oct 1, 2024, 12:02pm EDT
business
Democratic National Convention/YouTube
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The Scoop

Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault has emerged as a leading candidate for jobs in a Kamala Harris administration, including Treasury secretary, people familiar with the matter said.

A significant but low-key Democratic donor who has known Harris for years, Chenault ran Amex for nearly two decades before retiring in 2018 as one of the only Black CEOs of a major company. He has donated more than $100,000 to a PAC associated with the Biden-Harris campaign, federal records show, and was among the dozens of business executives who endorsed Harris last week.

His speech at the Democratic National Convention previewed what has emerged as a homestretch priority of the Harris campaign — winning over a business community that’s been critical of the Biden administration. Her pitch is predictability and calm, contrasting herself with the chaos around Donald Trump that unnerved some corporate executives.

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“Business requires stability and certainty,” Chenault said at the convention — one of the few executives to speak at the event. Harris “understands it’s possible for a president to be both pro-business and pro-worker.”

Chenault’s blue-chip resume includes board seats at Airbnb and Berkshire Hathaway, and prior board seats at Facebook, IBM, and Procter & Gamble. He was a member of Barack Obama’s economic advisory board.

“Ken is one of the most well-respected business leaders whether you are right, left or center,” Robert Wolf, a Harris surrogate and former UBS executive, said in an interview. “Few people in industry have his experience on the global stage.”

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Chenault and the Harris campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Liz’s view

Chenault would be an envoy to a corporate class that’s been largely shut out of power since the mid-2000s. His roles at Airbnb and General Catalyst, and former board seats at Facebook and IBM, make him an olive branch to a tech set that has turned on Democrats. His tenure at Amex was mostly scandal-free, rare among crisis-era Wall Street CEOs, and he’s probably confirmable even in a Republican Senate.

He would also be the first Black Treasury secretary — though so would Wally Adeyemo, Janet Yellen’s 43-year-old current deputy.

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Room for Disagreement

Whoever runs the Treasury will have to deal with the expiration of certain Trump tax cuts next year, which is likely to be a bruising political fight — perhaps not benefitting a Washington novice.

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