White House Confirms Rattner Will Be Counselor To Treasury Secretary
23 Februar 2009 - 11:39PM
Dow Jones News
The White House said Steven Rattner is joining the Treasury
Department as Counselor to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner,
confirming a report earlier Monday in the Wall Street Journal.
Rattner, co-founder of private-equity firm Quadrangle Group,
will lead a team advising the Obama administration on the troubled
automobile sector.
The task force is primarily charged with administering a $17.4
billion bailout of General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC and
deciding whether the two auto makers should continue receiving
government aid. That aid could come in the form of more loans, or
financing for a bankruptcy filing.
The two companies could need nearly $40 billion in financing to
survive, including up to $5 billion in March just to pay bills to
suppliers and other creditors.
In addition to deciding what to do with the auto makers, Rattner
is expected to help decide what action needs to be taken to help
out hundreds of auto suppliers that are short on liquidity.
-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256;
henry.pulizzi@dowjones.com
(John Stoll of the Wall Street Journal contributed to this
report.)