There appears to be a wealth of Wall Street sniping about Robert Wolf’s departure from UBS after being described as a “fat cat with the president’s ear.”
Wolf resigned as chairman of UBS Americas and president of global investment banking last month to set up his own firm, 32 Advisors. He’s among President Obama’s leading fund-raisers, a regular face at the White House and even golfs with Obama. He also makes regular Obama-friendly TV appearances, despite the president’s perceived anti-Wall Street rhetoric.
A source told us, “Wall Street insiders are sniping that Wolf’s new career path appears to be serving as a TV pundit supporting the president. They believe Wolf left UBS after attracting too much attention to his relationship with Obama, making the bank synonymous with the presidency, which was not the place it wanted to be.”
The source added, “Some believe Wolf’s hopes for the future rest with the re-election of the president, either a getting a Cabinet position or building a business around a second term.”
But Wolf told us, “My new career path is not as a TV pundit for the president, nor am I a surrogate for the president. I am certainly a public supporter.” Adding that he’s only made one TV appearance in August, he said, “I do not believe the TV-pundit part [claim] is accurate.
“My new career path is as the founder of 32 Advisors . . . Whoever is giving you information on my career path has not likely had a conversation directly with me.”
Wolf continued, “I turned 50 in March and decided it was a good time to start something on my own. There is no question that being the Wall Street friend and outside adviser to the president attracted attention for both myself and UBS, but . . . that is attention that I can live with, versus the attention that some Wall Street firms are getting.
“With respect to a role in the administration, I am flattered, but it is not a topic of conversation with [Obama]. My primary goal is to help him get re-elected. A position in the White House . . . is not something that I have desired or pursued.”