Antonio Francesco Weiss (born September 28, 1966)[1] is an investor, policymaker, and former publisher. He is currently a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School[2][3] and an investor at SSW Partners LP.[4]
Antonio Weiss | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 28, 1966 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Susannah Hunnewell (Deceased 2019) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Yale University (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
Weiss served as the Counselor to the Secretary of the US Treasury from January 2015 to January 2017 where he advised on domestic and international issues, including financial markets, regulatory reform, job creation, and fostering broad-based economic growth. In 2016, Weiss led the Obama Administration's response to the financial crisis in Puerto Rico and helped broker the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.[5] He was previously head of investment banking for Lazard, a global financial advisory and asset management firm.[6][7] He is a former publisher and senior editor of the Paris Review, where he apprenticed to founder and editor George Plimpton.[8]
Education
editWeiss attended Yale College and received his MBA at Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and a Loeb Fellow in Finance.[9]
Banking career
editWeiss joined Lazard in New York in 1994 and became a partner in 1998. From 2001 to 2009, Weiss was based in Paris, France where he served as a vice chairman of European investment banking, and subsequently global head of mergers and acquisitions.[10][11] In 2009, Weiss moved back to the U.S. and was named the global head of investment banking for Lazard.[12] In 2021, SSW Partners LP led the acquisition of Swedish auto parts company Veoneer in partnership with Qualcomm.[13]
U.S. Treasury
editAfter his nomination to be undersecretary of domestic finance at the Treasury Department was opposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Weiss served the Treasury as an unofficial advisor, beginning in early 2015. In 2016, as a public debt crisis brought Puerto Rico to the brink of default, Weiss helped to broker a U.S. law to allow the commonwealth to restructure its $70 billion in debt under the supervision of an oversight board.[14] Weiss testified before both chambers of Congress to explain PROMESA and the Obama Administration's plan to address the Puerto Rican debt crisis.[15] The law was criticized on the right by fiscal conservatives unhappy with the possible cost to U.S. taxpayers and on the left by advocates for workers and for Puerto Rican autonomy, but was heralded as "the only piece of major economic policy to pass Congress" to date in 2016.[5]
After the October 15, 2014 "flash crash", Weiss led Treasury's role in the joint regulatory review of the irregularity.[16]
In recognition of his achievements at the Treasury, he was presented the Alexander Hamilton Award, the department's highest order.[17]
Affiliations
editWeiss is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a director of the Volcker Alliance, and a director of the French-American Foundation. Prior to joining the US Treasury, Weiss was a trustee of The Frick Collection.[18][8] In 2024, Weiss chaired an independent panel of experts to advise New York City on fiscal matters.[19] The board of Santander elected Weiss as an independent director in 2024.[20]
Publications
editWeiss co-authored the December, 2012 Center for American Progress report, “Reforming Our Tax System, Reducing Our Deficit,” which recommended a more progressive tax regime and a balanced approach to long-term debt reduction and the May 2017 Peterson Institute report, “The Financial Stability Oversight Council: An Essential Role for the Evolving U.S. Financial System”, which discussed the importance of the Council in the face of pressure to limit its authorities.[21][22] He also authored "A proposal to tax financial transactions" in January 2020, which recommends the implementation of a new financial transaction tax on assets including stocks, bonds, and derivatives, to raise revenue for the federal government.[23][24]
He is a frequent contributor on public policy to various publications, including Foreign Affairs,[25] Bloomberg,[26] The Wall Street Journal,[27] and The New York Times.[28]
Personal life
editWeiss married Susannah Hunnewell in 1993.[29] He lives with their three sons in New York City.[30] Weiss is the son of Piero Weiss and Carole Severson Weiss.[31]
References
edit- ^ "Antonio Francesco Weiss". The Complete Marquis Who's Who (R) Biographies. Accessed January 5, 2015 via LexisNexis.
- ^ "M-RCBG Senior Fellows". Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ "Antonio Weiss". Bretton Woods.
- ^ "Antonio Weiss Lands Qualcomm Deal with New Investment Outfit SSW". Bloomberg. October 4, 2021.
- ^ a b Laura Barron-Lopez (August 24, 2016). "How Antonio Weiss Brokered The Only Major Economic Policy To Pass Congress This Year". Huffington Post.
- ^ "Elizabeth Warren wins on Antonio Weiss nomination". Politico.
- ^ "Treasury Fight Is Over, but Wall Street Animosity Lingers". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Senator Elizabeth Warren's Misplaced Rage at Obama's Treasury Nominee". The New York Times.
- ^ "Lazard's Border Crossing Guard". Institutional Investor.
- ^ "Lazard rewards $100bn rainmaker with global M&A position". Financial News.
- ^ "In Hopeful Move, Lazard Names M&A Head". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Vaughan, Liam. "Lazard's Weiss Is Year's Busiest Banker". Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "How an unknown buyout firm pulled off a $4.5bn deal with a novel structure". FT. December 13, 2021.
- ^ Saleha Mohsin (June 30, 2016). "Treasury's Weiss Makes Mark Championing Puerto Rico Solution". Bloomberg.
- ^ "Testimony of Counselor Antonio Weiss before the House Committee on Natural Resources on the Fiscal Crisis in Puerto Rico". United States Department of the Treasury. February 25, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- ^ Joe Rennison (December 8, 2016). "US Treasury's Weiss confident debt reform will survive transition". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- ^ "Antonio Weiss--The Role Of Corporations in Our Economy". Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Antonio Weiss Elected to Frick Board of Trustees" (PDF). The Frick Collection.
- ^ "NYC Mayor Unveils Budget Advisory Panel". BK Reader. January 17, 2024.
- ^ "Santander to buy back $1.57 billion in shares, raise dividend". Reuters. February 19, 2024.
- ^ "Reforming Our Tax System, Reducing Our Deficit" (PDF). Center For American Progress.
- ^ Simon Johnson and Antonio Weiss. "The Financial Stability Oversight Council: An Essential Role for the Evolving US Financial System". Peterson Institute for International Economics. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ Weiss, Antonio; Kawano, Laura (2020-01-28). "A proposal to tax financial transactions". Brookings. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ^ Weiss, Antonio (2020-02-14). "Here's One Tax Every Candidate Ought to Back". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ^ "America's Forgotten Colony". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "America Can't Afford Ben Carson's Housing Cuts". Bloomberg. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ "Regulatory Rollback Is Wrong for Financial Markets". WSJ. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "Don't Make Things Worse for Puerto Rico". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "WEDDINGS; Susannah Hunnewell, Antonio Weiss". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "Paris Review Publisher Lived for Literature and Fun". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "Piero Weiss, Pianist and Musicologist, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.