By David Wighton
Financial Times, London
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/be4ed2c4-befa-11dc-8c61-0000779fd2ac.html
NEW YORK -- Tony Blair is joining one of the Wall Street's best-known
banks in what the former prime minister told the Financial Times would
be the first of a series of positions he expects to take in the private
sector.
Mr Blair, who stepped down as prime minister last year, is to become a
part-time adviser to JPMorgan, where he will use his experience and
contacts to provide political and strategic advice to the US bank and
participate in some client events. Mr Blairâ??s income from the job has
not been disclosed. However, one New York recruitment consultant said it
was likely to be more than $1 million (L500,000) a year.
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, said Mr Blair would be
"enormously valuable" to the company. "There are only a handful of people in
the world who have the knowledge and relationships that he has."
Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Blair said that he expected to
agree to "a small handful" of similar appointments with other companies in
different sectors.
"I have always been interested in commerce and the impact of
globalisation. Nowadays, the intersection between politics and the economy in
different parts of the world, including the emerging markets, is very
strong."
Such advisory jobs are popular with former world leaders. Sir John
Major, Mr Blair's predecessor, and George H.W.â??Bush, the former US
president, both became advisers to Carlyle, the US private equity firm.
Since leaving office, Mr Blair, who is believed to have a large
mortgage to pay on a house in Connaught Square, London, has joined the
international conference circuit. He was paid $500,000 for one speech in
China. Mr Blair declined to say how much he would be paid by JPMorgan.
Mr Blair's move comes a month after Jonathan Powell, his former chief
of staff, landed a full-time job with JPMorgan's rival, Morgan Stanley.
Mr Blair, who is serving as an international envoy to the Middle East,
said he planned to launch an interfaith foundation this year and was
likely to do some work to help tackle climate change.
In the longer term, he is being promoted as a candidate to be the first
full-time president of the European Union by Nicolas Sarkozy, the
French president. "I have learnt not to speculate about those sorts of
things," Mr Blair said.
The JPMorgan job was brokered by Robert Barnett, the Washington lawyer
who also negotiated a reported L5 million advance for Mr Blair's
memoirs.
Mr Barnett said that when Mr Blair stepped down, he was approached by a
variety of companies seeking relationships, including "more than half
a dozen financial services companies."
Mr Dimon, who is one of the leading Democrats on Wall Street, said he
phoned Mr Blair personally. "I went to visit him and we hit it off."
He said it was important to both men "to try to make the world a better
place and have a bit of fun doing it."
