Cyrus Sanati “Could Mitt Romney fix GM?”
Mitt Romney went from private equity boss to governor to presidential candidate. Should his next job be running a troubled auto giant?
There is a healthy (and completely hypothetical) debate on the Atlantic Monthly’s Web site about whether Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and onetime head of Bain Capital, would be the right person to lead a turnaround at General Motors.
That might seem surprising given the ideological gap between Mr. Romney, a Republican, and the current administration, which is calling many of the shots in G.M.’s restructuring.
Nevertheless, James Bennet, the editor of The Atlantic, argues that Mr. Romney is the person to guide G.M. back to profitability. He suggests that President Obama should install him as G.M.’s chairman alongside the company’s chief executive, Fritz Henderson. (As one commenter pointed out, G.M. is already bringing in Albert A. Koch, a turnaround veteran from AlixPartners, as chief restructuring officer.)
Cars are in Mr. Romney’s blood: He was raised outside of Detroit and his father, George W. Romney, helped turn around the failing car company, American Motors, in the 1950s.
“The son would bring to G.M. that legacy, the turnaround expertise and credentials he developed at Bain & Company, and the outsider’s eye that G.M. desperately needs,” Mr. Bennet wrote.
Mr. Romney expressed admiration and concern for the American auto industry during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination last year. After the election, he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times recommending that G.M. be put through an organized bankruptcy — a suggestion that became reality this week when G.M. filed for Chapter 11 protection.
But The Atlantic also offered a contrasting view.
On the publication’s politics blog, the Atlantic writer, Derek Thompson, said he wasn’t too keen on Mr. Romney’s prospects as G.M.’s new boss, nor did he think that Mr. Romney would ever accept such a job. “Romney didn’t support the G.M. bailout, he doesn’t approve of the government’s takeover, and he is not exactly on the record as a union-friendly guy,” Mr. Thompson wrote in his counterpoint.
He continued:
As an animal, Romney is hardwired to take over businesses with a ruthless, hands-on approach and deadset against the government running businesses, much less micromanaging their finances like a Bain Capital leveraged buyout.
Even if Mr. Romney were interested in the job, Mr. Thompson said, the administration might have a problem on its hands if he actually succeeded. “Romney would be hailed as a kind of business wizard, respected by conservatives, beloved by Michigan and hailed by moderates,” he said. “The White House would have created its own Frankenstein for 2012.”
