Gen. Wesley Clark Resigns From Stephens

ArkansasBusiness.com ^ | February 28, 2003

[HAL9000]

Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the Little Rock native and former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, has resigned as managing director of merchant banking for the Stephens Group Inc. of Little Rock effective Friday, a company spokesman confirmed.

"He told several of us that his first assignment would be to Kuwait City for CNN," Stephens spokesman Frank Thomas said. "It was a very amicable parting, very comfortable."

Clark couldn't be reached for comment Friday morning.

He joined Stephens in July 2000, the same month he retired from the Army. He serves on the boards of directors of Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock; Entrust Inc. of Dallas; Sirva Inc. of Westmont, Ill.; and privately held Time Domain Inc. of Huntsville, Ala.

Reportedly, Clark has been weighing a run for president. In the last months, he has met with Democratic Party leaders throughout the country, including Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Feb. 16, Clark said he had thought about running for president but has not accepted any political money or hired any political consultants.

[Shermy]

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15935,582232,00.html


Wes Clark Wins! (On Wall Street)
Kerry may have swept Iowa, but Wesley Clark has taken the Street.
FORTUNE
Monday, January 26, 2004
By Richard Behar


John Kerry may have won Iowa, but Wesley Clark cleaned up on Wall Street. On Jan. 20, just a day after the caucuses, bankers tell FORTUNE, Clark made about $1.2 million in paper profit on his investment in Messer Griesheim, when the private German maker of industrial gases agreed to sell most of its assets to rival Air Liquide. While the $3.3 billion deal went largely unnoticed in the U.S., it was the best investment Clark ever made. And it barely cost him a dime—thanks to a low-interest, "non-recourse" loan from Goldman Sachs, which insulated Clark (a Messer director since August 2001) from any personal exposure. "Was he smiling yesterday?" wondered a Goldman executive, just hours after the Euro-deal was announced. "General Clark's probably got more money than he's ever had in his life."

Clark resigned nearly all his directorships last fall after he announced his candidacy. But he stayed on Messer's board until early January. Goldman co-owns 67% of the firm, and "Clark was our guy on the board," says a Goldman insider, who adds that the company wanted to find a way to give Clark a stake. But Goldman's stock was held by a fund whose bylaws didn't permit loans. So, in a complex swap, Messer loaned Clark 500,000 euros for his 6,734-share purchase in mid-2002, and then Goldman bought the note from Messer. The non-recourse terms mean that if the deal had gone south and Clark defaulted, Goldman would be stuck. In other words, pure upside for Clark, who repaid the note—but kept stock when he left the board.

Overall, that was the biggest home run of the general's brief tenure as a businessman. After leaving the military in mid-2000, Clark spent nearly three years working as a managing director for Little Rock's Stephens Group, one of the largest investment houses off Wall Street. He was eventually pushed out—and left behind some sour feelings.

Clark's primary role was to help the firm expand into defense and IT sectors. He used his impeccable contacts to gain not one but two audiences with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, giving Stephens an inside track on the government's Iraq thinking. And he was likable, often speaking to packed rooms during client forums. "He's smart, he knows the technology, and has the contacts," says Warren Stephens, the firm's CEO. "But we needed about five years with him—to help him filter deals. As with many who are new, he thought everything he saw was doable."

Clark helped one Stephens-backed firm, SmartSignal—which uses harmonics to determine when an engine is failing—to get a contract at DARPA, the DoD's research wing. And as both a lobbyist and board director, he helped another Stephens-backed firm—Acxiom, one of the world's largest processors of consumer data—secure government contracts in homeland security.

But he couldn't persuade Stephens to back a DARPA-funded startup called PharmAthene—a Virginia developer of biowarfare vaccines, whose chairman, Joel McCleary, is a former treasurer of the Democratic National Committee. (Clark joined PharmAthene's board last January, just days before Stephens suggested he resign.) And Warren tells FORTUNE that Clark never informed the firm about his Messer investment. According to top securities lawyer and ex-prosecutor Sean O'Shea, employees of securities firms "must disclose an outside investment" to their bosses. Violators can face disciplinary action by regulators. (Clark says he's "very grateful for the start" in business that the Stephens family gave him, but declines further comment.)

Warren says he nudged Clark out after the General began publicly criticizing the Bush administration and it became clear he had presidential ambitions. (Warren serves as finance co-chair of President Bush's reelection drive in Arkansas.) "He was disappointed, and so was I," says Stephens. At the time, Clark had a different spin. On March 1, he told the local paper that he had decided to leave Stephens to prepare for covering the war as a military analyst for CNN—a post he had held since 2001.

Before packing his bags Clark asked Stephens's top deputy, Curt Bradbury, a staunch conservative, if Warren would ever rehire him. "When you get well," Bradbury responded.

[Shermy]

At #101 I posted a Clark Messer Griesheim article.

Turns out he didn't resign all his posts last year. I remember the stories of his resignations always omitted Messer.

The story how, and why, he was appointed to this German company in the first place has not been explained as far as I have read.

The deal with Messer to avoid NATO aerial bombing of its Yugoslav facilities still looks like something that an enterprising investigative journalist should look into.

[Incorrigible]

The story how, and why, he was appointed to this German company in the first place has not been explained as far as I have read.

Because cattle futures would have looked suspicious!  :-)

[HAL9000]

The Clintons are cutting deals with Kerry for cabinet and judicial appointments - and I suspect Clark will be among them. Clark is focusing most of his attacks on Edwards now.

[Shermy]

I noticed at a recent debate Kerry being solicitous of Clark.

Clark has a good shot at VP because he brings in the Soros - Clinton - Hollywood money.

[Grampa Dave]

Here is an interesting FR search on Acxiom, one of Weasel's companies, he represented or whatever he did"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/keyword/Acxiom

[Shermy]

Kerry - Clark. It's a Jacques Chirac - George Soros ticket. Joseph Wilson will be our Secretary of State Villepin.

[HAL9000]

Clark has a good shot at VP because he brings in the Soros - Clinton - Hollywood money.

I think Edwards or Richardson have a better shot as Kerry's running mate.

But picture this: Kerry appoints Clark as Secretary of Defense - then Clark takes revenge on his enemies in the Pentagon.

[Shermy]

But picture this: Kerry appoints Clark as Secretary of Defense

Putin is preparing for this scenario:

Russia Planning Maneuvers of its Nuclear Forces Next Month

[HAL9000]

Putin is preparing for this scenario:

Heh.

[okie01]

The deal with Messer to avoid NATO aerial bombing of its Yugoslav facilities still looks like something that an enterprising investigative journalist should look into.

Surely, you're not suggesting that General Weasley, a presidential confidante and gentleman soldier of the old school, would...???

[Shermy]

VP watch:

Clark stumps for Kerry in Georgia AP ^ | 2-25-04 | ELLIOTT MINOR

[solo gringo]

He should fit rite in with that lieing bunch of Ba$tards.
Thier motto all lies all the time.Any lie worth reporting is reported on cnn.

[Mo1]

VP watch:

Sure looks like it

[Shermy]

re# 105, my first Clark VP prediction...

Update...

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/030504/bre_clark.shtml
Wesley Clark campaigns for Kerry in Topeka
(March 5, 2004)

Clark the only one campaigning for Kerry...

[Mo1]

Clark may want it .. but if Kerry's wife has anything to say ... he won't get it

[McGavin999]

Why do you say that Mo. What does Terri Kerry have against Clark?

[Mo1]

I don't think she has anything "against" Clark .. and I can see them giving Clark a different slot in a Kerry Adm. but not the VP .

But Clark doesn't really bring anything to the table as in voters and that is what they need

I've been watching Terri Kerry and she WANTS to be First Lady in a big way

[Grampa Dave]

Yeah, with Clark as Kerry's VP, the rats could have two former military members who hate America and would use our military against us, like in Waco.

[Shermy]

Clark VP watch...

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8188406.htm

"Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who lost his bid for the Democratic nomination, will speak for Kerry in Ohio."

Any other former contestant still campaigning for Kerry???

As for Teresa Kerry, yep, she's ambitious.