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Wilbur Ross
Wilbur Ross served as the 39th U.S. secretary of commerce. He was a member of President Donald Trump's (R) administration. He left office on January 20, 2021.[1]
The secretary of commerce is responsible for promoting "job creation and economic growth by ensuring fair and reciprocal trade, providing the data necessary to support commerce and constitutional democracy, and fostering innovation by setting standards and conducting foundational research and development," according to the department's website.[2]
Before serving as secretary, Ross was the chairman and chief strategy officer of WL Ross & Co. LLC.[3]
Biography
Ross earned degrees from Yale University and Harvard Business School.[3]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Ross' academic, professional, and political career:[3]
- February 28, 2017-January 20, 2021: U.S. Secretary of Commerce
- 1997-2017: Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of WL Ross & Co. LLC.
- 1976-1997: Corporate bankruptcy and restructuring specialist, Rothschild Inc.
Rothschild Inc. and WL Ross & Co.
In 1976, Ross began his finance career with Rothschild Inc., an investment firm. He focused on corporate bankruptcy and restructuring and privatization services. Ross served as executive managing director for Rothschild.[3] In 1997, Ross founded WL Ross & Co., which was created out of a small investment fund he had started at Rothschild.[4] In 2000, he bought the investment fund and formally founded his private equity firm, WL Ross & Co. LLC.[3][5] In 2006, AMVESCAP PLC purchased WL Ross & Co., and WL Ross was combined with the private equity firm Invesco.[6]
International Steel Group
In 2002, Ross established International Steel Group (ISG) through buyouts and mergers. ISG began with the Pennsylvania-based Bethlehem Steel Corporation when it filed for bankruptcy in 2001.[7] Ross was made chairman of the board of the ISG and, in 2003, he took ISG public. By 2004, Ross had merged ISG with Mittal Steel for $4.5 billion.
International Coal Group
During a bankruptcy auction in 2004, Ross purchased Horizon Natural Resources and created the International Coal Group (ICG). Ross sold ICG for $3.4 billion in 2011 to Arch Coal, Inc.
International Textile Group
Ross' firm merged Cone Denim, Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Home Furnishings, Carlisle Finishing, and Nano-Tex LLC., into the International Textile Group (ITG) in 2004. Ross served as the ITG chairman. The companies continued to operate under their respective names.[8]
International Automotive Components Group
Ross founded the International Automotive Components Group in 2006 and served as the chairman of the group until 2014 when he stepped down to take up a position with the Bank of Cyprus.[9][10]
Banks
In 2010, Ross bought 21 percent of the shares of Virgin Money, a money management firm that is part of Richard Branson's Virgin brand.[11] A year later, Ross and Branson purchased Northern Rock, a British-based bank.
In 2011, WL Ross & Co., as part of a multiple share purchase, purchased 5.5 percent stake in the Bank of Ireland. In 2014, Ross sold his shares for nearly 500 million Euros.[12]
In 2014, Ross was appointed vice chairman of the Bank of Cyprus.[9]
Secretary of commerce
| Nomination tracker | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate: Wilbur Ross | ||
| Position: Secretary of Commerce | ||
| Confirmation progress | ||
 | Announced: | November 30, 2016 |
| Hearing: | January 18, 2017 |
| Committee: | Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee |
| Reported: | January 24, 2017 (Voice vote) |
| Confirmed: | February 27, 2017 |
| Vote: | 72-27 |
Ross was chosen by President Donald Trump as his pick for secretary of commerce on November 30, 2016.[13] According to Politico, Ross was expected to "be the most influential Commerce secretary in decades and will lead the effort to change the trade agenda to meet Trump’s vision."[14][15]
Ross was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on February 28, 2017. He left office on January 20, 2021.[1]
Senate vote
On February 27, 2017, the Senate voted 72-27 to confirm Ross as secretary of commerce.[16]
| Wilbur Ross confirmation vote, February 27, 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes for |
Votes against  |
Total votes |
 Democrats |
20 | 26 | 46 |
 Republicans |
51 | 0 | 51 |
 Independents |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total Votes | 72 | 27 | 99 |
Senate Commerce Committee
The Senate Commerce Committee was originally scheduled to hold a hearing on Ross' confirmation on January 12, 2017, but the hearing was delayed until January 18, 2017. The committee approved Ross by voice vote on January 24, 2017.[17]
Issues
China
- See also: Federal policy on China, 2017-2020
- On March 22, 2018, during a ceremony where President Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing his administration to recommend actions to take against China for unfair trade practices, Ross said, “Intellectual property rights are our future, and it’s no accident that in June of this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will issue its 10 millionth patent — 10 million patents. There’s no country in the history of the world that remotely approaches that. So the steel and aluminum actions we’ve taken deal more or less with the present. This action on intellectual property rights deals with the future. So we’re trying to solve both today’s problem and problems that otherwise will be forthcoming. That’s why these actions are so important and so important in unison with each other. We will end up negotiating these things, rather than fighting over them, in my view.”[18]
Financial regulation
- In November 2016, Ross said in an interview that he expected the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. He said that it was wrong to have delayed such a hike. "If the only thing that keeps our economy together is one-quarter of 1 percent on interest rates, then we've got nothing going for us anyway. I think that's a joke and I think that they have created more problems by vacillating on interest rates by creating uncertainty in the markets than they would have created by raising the rates. So I believe that they will raise the rates the next time around and I believe they should,” he said.[19][20]
Trade
- See also: Federal policy on trade, 2017-2020
- During his confirmation hearing, Ross said in his opening statement, “I also understand that at the end of the day, each of our trading partners want access to our market. The United States should provide that access to nations who agree to play by our standards of fair trade. We should not put up with malicious trading activities, state owned enterprises, or subsidized production. So I am not anti-trade. I am pro trade. But I am pro sensible trade, not trade that is detrimental to the American worker and to the domestic manufacturing base.”[21]
- During his confirmation hearing, when asked about the potential role of tariffs in the Trump administration’s approach to international trade, Ross said, “I think the pro-growth thing is stimulating exports, much more than just curtailing imports. But ... countervailing duties and punishment to people for dumping is essential because there are inappropriate and illegal trade practices being performed, and if you don't really punish them, you're never going to modify their behavior.” Regarding Trump’s proposal to impose a 35 percent tariff on U.S. companies that relocated jobs to facilities in other countries, Ross responded, “The president has done a wonderful job preconditioning other countries with whom we will be negotiating that change is coming.”[22]
- During an interview on CNBC on November 30, 2016, Ross criticized multinational trade deals. He said, “The problem with regional trade agreements is you get picked apart by the first country. Then you negotiate with the second you get picked apart. And you go with the third one. You get picked apart again. What has to be put into perspective, we are the big market. We are the world's biggest importer. We need to treat the other countries as good suppliers. Not as determining the whole show.”[23]
- In August 2016, Ross criticized U.S. trade policies, saying, “Free trade is like free lunch, there is no free lunch. Somebody wins and somebody loses and unfortunately we’ve been losing with these stupid agreements that we’ve made.”[24]
North American Free Trade Agreement
- During his confirmation hearing, Ross said, “As to Canada and Mexico, the president-elect has made no secret in his public remarks, nor have I, that NAFTA is logically the first thing for us to deal with. We ought to solidify relationships in the best way we can in our own territory before we go off into other jurisdictions.”[25]
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal
- During an interview on CNBC on November 30, 2016, Ross called the TPP a horrible deal and criticized the TPP’s rules of origin. He said, “For one thing, TPP had terrible rules of origin. Rules of origin means can stuff come in from outside the boundaries of the treaty countries? In automotive, a majority of a car could come from outside TPP, namely could come from China, and still get all the benefits of TPP. And if it came in through Mexico, all the benefits of Mexico.”[23]
Political activity
Ross served on the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund Board while Bill Clinton (D) was president. The fund promoted private business in Russia. Ross also served as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's privatization advisor.[26]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Ross and his wife, Hilary Geary Ross, have four children: Jessica Ross, Amanda Ross, Ted Geary, and Jack Geary.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Twitter, "Sec. Wilbur Ross," accessed January 20, 2021
- ↑ Commerce.gov, "About Commerce," accessed March 30, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Commerce.gov, "Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce," accessed March 30, 2018
- ↑ Invesco, "WL Ross and Co. LLC," accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ Forbes, "Wilbur Ross, Jr." accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ PR Newswire, "AMVESCAP PLC to Acquire WL Ross & Co. LLC," July 23, 2006
- ↑ CNN, "Bethlehem Steel in Chapter 11," October 15, 2001
- ↑ Triad Business Journal, "Ross completes ITG integration," August 4, 2004
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 International Automotive Components Group, "IAC ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD APPOINTMENTS," November 21, 2014
- ↑ Automotive News, "Wilbur Ross steps down as chairman of IAC to take bank board spot," November 21, 2014
- ↑ Virgin Money, "About," accessed November 22, 2016
- ↑ Reuters, "U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross cashes out Bank of Ireland stake," June 10, 2014
- ↑ NPR, "Trump Taps Billionaire Investor Wilbur Ross For Commerce Secretary," November 30, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Trump’s list of top USTR contenders takes shape," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Senate Panel Delays Hearing for Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Pick as Commerce Secretary," January 11, 2017
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Nomination (Confirmation Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., of Florida, to be Secretary of Commerce)," February 27, 2017
- ↑ The Hill, "Senate committee approves Commerce nominee," January 24, 2017
- ↑ WhiteHouse.gov, "Remarks by President Trump at Signing of a Presidential Memorandum Targeting China’s Economic Aggression," March 22, 2018
- ↑ Politico, "Trump nominates Steve Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross for Cabinet positions," November 30, 2016
- ↑ Newsmax, "Wilbur Ross: Fed 'Wrong' to Delay Interest Rate Hike," November 16, 2016
- ↑ Commerce.Senate.gov, "Ross Statement," accessed February 8, 2017
- ↑ Politico, "Ross: NAFTA is job one," accessed February 8, 2017
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 CNBC, "CNBC Transcript: Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross Speak with CNBC's 'Squawk Box' Today," accessed December 5, 2016
- ↑ Fox Business, "Why Wilbur Ross Says Trump’s Economic Pitch Was 'Terrific,'" accessed December 7, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wilbur Ross Vows to Push Trump’s Trade Agenda, Starting With Nafta," accessed February 9, 2017
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Donors who are anti-NAFTA in the running for Commerce," November 22, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Penny Pritzker |
U.S. secretary of commerce 2017-2021 |
Succeeded by - |
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