The Scoop
Former American Express CEO Ken Chenault has emerged as a leading candidate for jobs in a Kamala Harris administration, including Treasury secretary, people familiar with the matter said.
A significant but low-key Democratic donor who has known Harris for years, Chenault ran Amex for nearly two decades before retiring in 2018 as one of the only Black CEOs of a major company. He has donated more than $100,000 to a PAC associated with the Biden-Harris campaign, federal records show, and was among the dozens of business executives who endorsed Harris last week.
His speech at the Democratic National Convention previewed what has emerged as a homestretch priority of the Harris campaign — winning over a business community that’s been critical of the Biden administration. Her pitch is predictability and calm, contrasting herself with the chaos around Donald Trump that unnerved some corporate executives.
“Business requires stability and certainty,” Chenault said at the convention — one of the few executives to speak at the event. Harris “understands it’s possible for a president to be both pro-business and pro-worker.”
Chenault’s blue-chip resume includes board seats at Airbnb and Berkshire Hathaway, and prior board seats at Facebook, IBM, and Procter & Gamble. He was a member of Barack Obama’s economic advisory board.
“Ken is one of the most well-respected business leaders whether you are right, left or center,” Robert Wolf, a Harris surrogate and former UBS executive, said in an interview. “Few people in industry have his experience on the global stage.”
Chenault and the Harris campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Liz’s view
Chenault would be an envoy to a corporate class that’s been largely shut out of power since the mid-2000s. His roles at Airbnb and General Catalyst, and former board seats at Facebook and IBM, make him an olive branch to a tech set that has turned on Democrats. His tenure at Amex was mostly scandal-free, rare among crisis-era Wall Street CEOs, and he’s probably confirmable even in a Republican Senate.
He would also be the first Black Treasury secretary — though so would Wally Adeyemo, Janet Yellen’s 43-year-old current deputy.
Room for Disagreement
Whoever runs the Treasury will have to deal with the expiration of certain Trump tax cuts next year, which is likely to be a bruising political fight — perhaps not benefitting a Washington novice.