How Gingrich's Presidential Campaign Wrecked Newt, Inc.
We knew something was up last month when Gingrich was bouncing $500 checks and his think tank filed for bankruptcy. What we didn't know was exactly how much his failed presidential run ruined this man's personal finances.
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Prior to his presidential run Gingrich had himself a nice little network of money flowing in with his private ventures (Newt, Inc.) bringing in around over $110 million in the past 10 years, according to Reuters' Marcus Stern, but thanks to a campaign which ended with nearly $5 million in debt, there's barely any money left in Newt, Inc. Check out the the sharp and abrupt financial demise of Gingrich's flagship think tank, per Stern:
Opened in 2003 [The Gingrich Group-owned Center for Health Transformation] , the center pulled in $59 million over nine years from more than 300 companies, some of which paid as much as $200,000 in dues. Among its activities, the center and Gingrich helped push a mandate requiring everyone to carry health insurance. At the time, the position was beneficial to the center's healthcare industry members, but Gingrich later repudiated it as a candidate.
... revenues fell from just under $7 million in 2010 to $4 million in 2011 and then to less than $300,000 in the first quarter of this year. Some $1.2 million in dues that had been expected earlier this year never materialized because those members also decided not to renew. By March the center was no longer able to pay the rent on its suite of offices in Atlanta and Washington.
To see your personal finances bleeding out while you're on a presidential campaign that's leaking millions of dollars as well makes one wonder:Why didn't Gingrich just stop the campaign earlier? Wasn't the $3 million loss in 2011 enough? Was Delaware worth it? Well, at least he proved (by sinking his empire and personal finances) that his presidential run just wasn't a "vanity project" after all.
