In 2010 Klain advised President Obama to visit and publicly praise the California-based solar-power company Solyndra, even though auditors were warning about the abysmal state of its finances. According to The Washington Post, Klain “dismissed auditors’ concerns about Solyndra’s solvency, reasoning that all innovative companies come with risk.” Soon thereafter, Solyndra went bankrupt and shut down its operations, but not before it had received a $535 million government-backed loan.
In late 2010 Klain was considered a frontrunner to replace outgoing White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who was preparing to begin his tenure as mayor of Chicago. But Klain opted instead to become president of the investment company Case Holdings and general counsel of the aforementioned venture-capital firm, Revolution.
