Taggart Mitt Romney (born March 21, 1970) is an American management consultant, businessman,venture capitalist and political advisor. He is the eldest son of businessman and formerU.S. SenatorMitt Romney.[1]
Romney has worked as the head of marketing for theLos Angeles Dodgers,[1] VP of on-field marketing atReebok, and director of strategic planning atElan Pharmaceuticals. Romney founded and subsequently sold Season Perks,[2] a software design company. He also worked for several years as a consultant at bothMonitor Group andMcKinsey and Co.[2] Romney has been a partner in theprivate equity firm Solamere Capital, together with family friend Spencer Zwick, and Eric Scheuermann, previously a partner inNew York-based Jupiter Partners.[4][5] Zwick was also the finance chair of the 2012 campaign.[6] Romney worked as a senior aide on his father'spresidential campaign in 2008 and during his Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign in2002.[7] He participated as an advisor inhis father's 2012 presidential campaign, and he attracted the attention of the media just before the November election.[8]
After thesecond presidential debate, a North Carolina radio station interviewed Romney and asked him what it was like "to hear the president of the United States call your dad a liar."[12] Romney laughed and replied: "Jump out of your seat, and you want to rush down to the stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can't do that because, well, first because there's a lot ofSecret Service between you and him, but also because that's the nature of the process. "They're going to do everything they can to paint my dad as someone he's not. We knew what we were getting into, so now we just have to take the hits, stay strong, and be ready to fight back."[12][13]A campaign aide toldABC News that the remarks about taking a swing at the president were all in jest.[14][15]
HIG Capital, an investment partner of Romney's company, Solamere, supplied voting machines in the state ofOhio, which caused concern before the November elections.[16] A spokesperson for Solamere later commented on the matter, saying, "Not only does Solamere have no direct or indirect interest in this companyHart InterCivic, Solamere and its partners have no ownership in this company, nor do they have any ownership in nor have made any investments in the fund that invested in the voting machine company."[17]
In 2012,National Journal named Romney one of tenRepublicans to follow onTwitter.[18] Romney stated in 2012 that he was uninterested in pursuing a political career in his own right.[19]
