Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross was confirmed as the United States' new secretary of commerce Monday by a 72-27 margin in the senate.
Ross, 78, made a fortune restructuring failed organizations in the manufacturing and steel industries, among others, earning him the moniker, the “King of Bankruptcy.”
Prior to his nomination by President Donald Trump, he worked as chairman and chief strategist of the equity firm W.L. Ross and Co.
Ross is hailed as a hero by some for saving failing industries but critics have likened the small business practice to getting a "vulture investor," even though Ross himself disdains the term, according to a 2004 New York Magazine profile, which also noted that he prefers the description “a phoenix that rebuilds itself from the ashes.”
Here's what you want to know about Ross:
Name and Age: Wilbur Ross Jr., 78
Celebration: Ross was a noted donor to Republicans for the duration of this election cycle. On the other hand, Ross was a registered Democrat in the 1990s.
Hometown: Weehawken, New Jersey
What He Did Just before Nomination: Chairman and chief strategist of private equity firm W.L. Ross and Co. The firm invests billions in restructuring firms in the steel and manufacturing industries that have declared bankruptcy.
What You May well Not Know About Him: **Ross is recognized for his robust art collection, and after lent a painting by famed Belgian artist René François Ghislain Magritte to the Tate Liverpool and the Albertina in Vienna. Ross owns 25 Magritte paintings reportedly worth $one hundred million, according to an estimate by Forbes.**
**Ross' partnership with Trump dates back to the 1990s when he represented investors who had been thinking about no matter if to take away Trump from his position as head of his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Ross reportedly was a top advocate in claiming the casinos would remain lucrative if Trump have been to remain on -- allowing Trump to save his image, according to The New York Times. Trump sold his interest in the Trump Taj Mahal in 2009. The casino closed in October of this year after enduring years of losses.**
History Concerning 2016 Election/Trump Help: Ross stated in March of 2016 that he was organizing to vote for Donald Trump.
"I think the purpose why the Trump phenomenon has grow to be so important ... is mainly because middle-class and reduce-middle-class America has not really benefited by the last 10 to 15 years of economic activity and they're sick and tired of it and they want one thing different," Ross told CNBC at the time.
He went on to develop into a close economic adviser to Trump via his presidential campaign and a public advocate for him in organization circles.
Controversies:
**As the owner of the Sago mine, Wilbur Ross was accused by miners and their families of ignoring safety regulations that price the lives of 12 miners in the 2006 Sago mine disaster. Days following the mine explosion, ABC News' Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross had a sit-down interview with the billionaire in which he defended his company's management of the mine even with multiple warning indicators in the form of previously-issued security citations.**
**In August of this year, Wilbur Ross' company paid out a $two.3 million civil penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission right after the SEC charged the company for not disclosing its charge practices to funds it advised and to investors. The corporation paid the fine “without admitting or denying the findings," according to the SEC.**
**In 2014, Ross told Bloomberg Tv he believed the leading 1 percent of wealthiest individuals in the country had been "becoming picked on for political purposes" when asked about true estate magnate Sam Zell’s comments that the 1 percent "should really be emulated."**
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