Gene Giannotta
George W. Bush
Son of the 41st president, George W. Bush had his own business career prior to entering politics. Like his father, “Dubya” went from Yale to the oil fields (but with a stop at Harvard Business School in between). His time in the industry was not very successful, although it did involve no small amount of controversy during his father’s presidency when the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated George W.’s sale of his Harken Energy shares just before the firm announced losses. The stock quickly bounced back and the S.E.C. let it slide. Bush also drew criticism for the largely taxpayer-funded construction of The Ballpark at Arlington for his Texas Rangers baseball team in the early 1990s. Writing for CNN during the 2000 presidential campaign, Brooks Jackson concluded that “Bush the businessman did prosper. But not by his bootstraps — with help from wealthy friends and taxpayer subsidies.”
