Ron Bloom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of theBoard of Governors of theUnited States Postal Service | |
| In office February 9, 2021 – December 8, 2021 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Mike Duncan |
| Succeeded by | Roman Martinez IV |
| Governor of theUnited States Postal Service | |
| In office August 20, 2019 – December 8, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Mickey D. Barnett |
| Succeeded by | Dan Tangherlini |
| Senior Counselor to the President for Manufacturing Policy | |
| In office 2009–2011 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1955 (age 69–70)[1] |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Wesleyan University (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
Ron Bloom (born 1955) is an American economic advisor who served as a senior official in theObama Administration from February 2009 to August 2011. This included working as the Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy between February 2011 and August 2011, in the Department of the Treasury as a senior advisor to theSecretary of the Treasury, as a member of thePresident's Task Force on the Automotive Industry, and as senior counselor to the president for manufacturing policy. From 1996 to 2008, Bloom served as special assistant to the president of theUnited Steelworkers.[2][3] Bloom also worked for the investment banking firmLazard on two occasions, the second as Vice Chairman, U.S Investment Banking.[4][5] Bloom is the vice chair and a managing partner ofBrookfield Asset Management and served as chairman of theBoard of Governors of the United States Postal Service.[5][6][7][8][9]
Ron Bloom was born to aJewish family[10] inNew York City and raised inSwarthmore, Pennsylvania. His mother, Paula Yackira, was an educator,[11] and his father, Joel Bloom, served 21 years as President of theFranklin Institute Science Museum. The elder Bloom was a prime mover in the conception and development of the Mandell Futures Center, a 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) wing that transformed the institute “from a dusty bin of outmoded exhibits into what is probably the most advanced science museum in the world.”[12] A co-author of the influential ‘’Museums for a New Century: A Report of the Commission on Museums for a New Century’’, he was a president of theAmerican Alliance of Museums (the first science museum president to serve in that capacity), chairman of the U.S. National Committee of the International Council of Museums, and founding president of the Association of Science-Technology Centers.[13] In 1993, the American Alliance of Museums presented him with its Award for Distinguished Service to Museums; and in 2002, the Franklin dedicated its renovated observatory as the Joel N. Bloom Observatory.[12]
After graduating fromWesleyan University in 1977, the younger Bloom went to work first for theJewish Labor Committee and a year later for theService Employees International Union. After a time, however, he realized that labor unions suffered from a lack of business knowledge, so he enrolled atHarvard Business School, earning an MBA with Distinction in 1985.[11]
Upon graduation from HBS, Bloom joined the investment banking firm ofLazard Frères & Co. At Lazard, he divided his time between mergers and acquisition, the firm's principal business, and working with unions whose members were involved in corporate bankruptcies and restructuring transactions, a practice originated by Lazard partner Eugene Keilin. Many of the employee-related transactions involved the steel industry—whose hourly employees were represented by theUnited Steelworkers (USW)—and the airline industry, where Lazard represented pilots who were members of theAirline Pilots Association (ALPA).[14]
In 1990, Bloom joinedKeilin to create their own investment banking firm, Keilin and Bloom, which specialized in representing unions and other employee groups in turnaround and restructuring situations. Representing the USW in the Canadian bankruptcy of Algoma Steel, Bloom avoided a liquidation of the company and succeeded in obtaining majority ownership for the employees in the reorganized company.[15]
Continuing a project they began together at Lazard, Keilin and Bloom also represented the ALPA pilots atUnited Airlines in their attempts to acquire ownership of the company through anemployee stock ownership plan. In 1994, they succeeded in obtaining a majority stake in United for the ESOP, creating one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States.[16]
In 1996, Bloom left the firm to become Special Assistant toGeorge Becker, the President of the USW.[11] His duties included helping the union affect corporate business restructuring, investments, bankruptcies and mergers. In his time with the Steelworkers, he reinforced his reputation as both a fierce negotiator and a creative problem solver, helping shepherd the steel industry through a painful transition period.[14]
Bloom's work on behalf of the Steelworkers has been documented by major news publications, including theWall Street Journal andBusinessWeek. Three examples of transactions in which he played a major role are described briefly below.
In April 2002 and February 2003 respectively, Bloom facilitated the sale of the assets ofLTV Steel andBethlehem Steel to theInternational Steel Group (ISG). Led by the financierWilbur L. Ross Jr., ISG sought to acquire the assets of LTV and Bethlehem out of bankruptcies without having to assume expensive obligations to former workers. Bloom negotiated aVoluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) that would finance health care for retirees using a portion of ISG's profits. Describing his dealings with Bloom, Ross said, “I found him first of all very, very pragmatic, not overly ideological,” and “a very, very good negotiator.”[17]
In September 2003, Bloom led contract negotiations withGoodyear Tire, where the USW represented 19,000 active employees and more than 40,000 retirees. The company's management believed rising costs required that they replace several U.S. factories with new facilities in Asia, but the USW proposed an alternative that entailed major changes to Goodyear's long-term business plan. Ultimately, Bloom negotiated an agreement that included concessions in exchange for limits on executive salaries, agreements to restructure the company's debt and invest in U.S. factories, and the right of the union to nominate someone to sit on the company's Board of Directors. The USW avoided significant layoffs, and Jonathan Rich, a senior Goodyear executive, said, “We got what we needed” to become competitive again.[18]
In 2006, the Brazilian steel companyCompanhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) tried to merge withWheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation (Wheeling-Pitt), a transaction that would have cost a significant number of U.S. jobs. The Steelworkers were opposed to the deal, so Bloom orchestrated a hostile takeover by Esmark, a Chicago-based steel-distribution company, to keep Wheeling-Pitt out of CSN's hands and avoid layoffs.[19]
In February 2009, Bloom was named Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the President's Task Force on the Automotive Industry.[15] As the deputy toSteve Rattner (who led the Auto Team atTreasury), he helped manage the process that led to the reorganization ofGeneral Motors andChrysler.[11] An experienced dealmaker, he played a key role in extracting concessions from the companies, their lenders and other creditors, and theUnited Auto Workers (UAW).[20]
Bloom was particularly central to the Chrysler negotiations, where his strategy emphasized shared sacrifice to maximize value for all parties. He convinced the UAW, whose principal interest was preserving jobs, to accept painful wage-and-benefit concessions. In return, a VEBA for UAW members would receive a significant equity stake in the reorganized company. The announcement of that agreement put pressure on Chrysler's creditors to forgive a significant portion of their loans. With those commitments sealed, the Treasury agreed to provide the necessary financing to set the company back on its feet.[21]
When Rattner left the government, shortly after GM emerged from bankruptcy in August 2009, Bloom took over the responsibility of “monitoring [the auto] industry and protecting the substantial investment the American taxpayers have made” in GM and Chrysler.[11]
On April 21, 2010, GM paid back its outstanding loan from the U.S. government. The remaining Treasury stake in GM consists of $2.1 billion in preferred stock and 60.8 percent of the common equity.[22] Bloom has said that this remaining taxpayer interest in the company will be disposed of “as soon as practicable.”[23]
On Labor Day, 2009 (September 7), President Obama formally introduced Bloom as the Administration's Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy.[11] He was charged with “working closely with theNational Economic Council [to] provide leadership on policy development and strategic planning for the President’s agenda to revitalize the manufacturing sector.”[24]
In this capacity, he was instrumental in the formulation of the Administration's Framework for Revitalizing Manufacturing (released on December 16, 2009).[25] The Framework underlines the critical role manufacturing plays in the U.S. economy and in the fabric of American life; it outlines the major factors that have contributed to the significant difficulties facing American manufacturers; and it describes the Administration's efforts to address each of these factors and revitalize the manufacturing sector.[26][27][28]
From February to August 2011, Ron Bloom served as the Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy at the White House. During this time, Bloom played a key role in the agreement between the federal government and leading automakers to raise light-duty vehicle fuel economy standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The White House has estimated that these standards will save consumers $1.7 trillion and reduce oil consumption by an estimated 12 billion barrels.[29] Bloom also oversaw the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, an initiative between industry, universities, and the federal government designed to invest in the emerging technologies that will make U.S. manufacturers more economically competitive.
The New York Times reported that Chrysler paid back its rescue loans on May 24, 2011, a comeback which Bloom described as “more quickly than we had hoped.”[30]
Bloom also led theU.S. Treasury Department’s team that oversaw the Initial Public Offering of GM, which was the largest initial stock offering in U.S. history at the time.[31]
In February 2012, Ron Bloom rejoined Lazard, first as a senior advisor and then as Vice Chairman, U.S. Investment Banking.[4][6] Upon the announcement of his return,The New York Times reported that Bloom “said his primary focus remained working with industrial companies as they seek to expand in the United States.”[4]
On October 16, 2011,The New York Times reported, "theNational Association of Letter Carriers announced that it had hired Mr. Bloom and Lazard, the financial advisory and asset management firm, to develop a strategy to revitalize the deficit-laden [U.S.] postal service", currently facing a deficit of nearly $10 billion.[32] The union hired Mr. Bloom to help expand and explore possible solutions needed to address the service's immediate fiscal crisis as well as a range of long-term business strategies. The national president of the union,Fredric V. Rolando, commented about Bloom and Lazard: "They have experience in analyzing large, financially complex institutions and crafting creative solutions."[33]
A January 22, 2013 article inEsquire noted that Bloom recommended against weakening the network by slowing down the mail and cutting Saturday service.[34] During Bloom’s representation of the NALC at Lazard, the firm published a white paper recommending ways the USPS could grow its parcel services and stimulate new business by increasing delivery of packages ordered online.[35] The white paper also noted, “a successful restructuring of the Postal Service must start with a plan to better leverage its unrivaled last-mile delivery network — a retail network that touches every city, town and neighborhood in America. Instead of focusing on shrinking its network and capabilities, thereby yielding its competitive advantage, the Postal Service needs an ambitious rethinking of its business model.”[35]
On September 19, 2013, Bloom and Lazard were hired to advise a committee representing Detroit’s 23,500 public sector retirees duringDetroit’s Chapter 9 Bankruptcy restructuring.[36] Retirees faced cuts to their healthcare and pension benefits during the restructuring, but Bloom assisted in negotiating a deal that Detroit retirees eventually supported.[37][38] In December 2014, the city emerged from whatThe Detroit News called “an unprecedented restructuring” while the former Michigan Governor called it a “historic” and “outstanding outcome, far better than people’s expectations.”[39]
Bloomberg reported on September 20, 2013 thatFiat SpA Chief Executive OfficerSergio Marchionne hired Bloom to advise on the acquisition ofChrysler Group LLC and negotiate a deal with theUnited Auto Workers’ retiree health-care trust.[40] Fiat assumed full ownership of Chrysler after a deal was finalized in January 2014.[41]
In 2016, Bloom joinedBrookfield Asset Management as a vice chairman and a managing partner to help manage the firm’s private equity operations.[5] In a March 27, 2019Bloomberg article, Bloom characterized the firm’s nontraditional culture of collaboration, saying “It’s the opposite of an eat-what-you-kill mentality [ . . . ] Collaboration is the norm. People who aren’t willing to work collaboratively just don’t like it.”[42]
In 2020, Brookfield announced that Bloom would be leading the firm’s $5 billion Retail Revitalization Program, a fund devoted to helping retailers recover from the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[43]
On August 1, 2019, theU.S. Senate approvedPresident Donald Trump’s nomination of Mr. Bloom to theUSPS Board of Governors.[44] Bloom began his service on August 20, 2019 and was chair of the Board's Strategy and Innovation Committee.[2] Bloom also sat on an Election Mail Committee to oversee the mail-in voting process during the 2020 U.S. General Elections.[45][46]
On February 9, 2021, Ron Bloom was unanimously elected by fellow Governors to serve as the 24th Chairman of the Board of Governors.[8][9]
On November 19, 2021, it was announced thatPresident Joe Biden intended to replace Ron Bloom along with fellow Governor John Barger, nominatingDaniel Tangherlini andDerek Kan to fill their seats.[47]
Bloom has been praised for his role in the Auto Industry restructurings and for his work as Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy. On April 29, 2010, he was named as one ofTime Magazine’s100 Most Influential People in the World (in the category of World Leaders). In the Time 100 issue, Bill Saporito wrote that “his role in brokering the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler while preserving more than 100,000 jobs demanded a synergist who could work both sides of the equation with authority and respect.”[48]
In March 2009, when Bloom was one of the leaders of thePresidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, Mike Psaros (managing partner ofKPS Capital Partners) said: “[Bloom] always tells the truth … He tells people objective facts they don’t want to hear.” Psaros added: “He will tell the management of these companies, he will tell the (union), and he will tell the debt holders and stockholders that there won’t be any quick fixes, that this is a one-time and unique opportunity with the government’s help to fix these companies.”[49]Brookings Institution analystDarrell West said: “[Bloom] is a team player who will help build consensus.” Then-president of theUnited Steelworkers,Leo Gerard, said “[Bloom] is very direct and can dismantle a lousy business plan in minutes. … He can explain that to a CEO as well as a brand new (union) member.”Wilbur Ross of International Auto Components Group said: “[Bloom] has an extremely good understanding of the economics of business.”[49]
When Bloom left the Obama White House in August 2011, he was praised for his work at the time. Bob Ferguson, head of Global Policy atGeneral Motors, said: “Bloom’s leadership within the President’s Auto Task Force helped America’s auto industry steer toward the road to recovery. As a result, the prospects look bright for auto manufacturing to contribute towards jobs and a stronger economy for years to come.”[50]
TheDetroit News and a book by Bloom's bossSteven Rattner claimed that at the Auto Task Force's farewell dinner in July 2009, Bloom said of his government service: "I did this all for the unions." In testimony under oath before Congress, Bloom denied making the statement at all, even in jest.[51][52][53][54][55]
In October 2009, political commentators focused on comments made by Bloom in 2008, namely: "We know that the free market is nonsense. ...We kind of agree withMao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun." While conservatives Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and others juxtaposed Bloom's comments with details of Mao's violent dictatorship, progressive groups such as MediaMatters cited instances where conservatives had quoted Mao and where Republican campaign operativeStephen Shadegg claimed to have "followed the advice of Mao" in the 1960s.[56]
Bloom's efforts toward automobile dealership closures was criticized for including "completely arbitrary factors";[57]
