USA: How Betsy DeVos makes millions of dollars as education secretary
USA/September 07, 2020/By: By Melissa Nann Burke and Craig Mauger, The Detroit News/Source: https://www.hollandsentinel.com/
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has reported at least $170 million in outside income during her first three years in Washington, benefiting from her family’s business empire that includes stakes in sports teams, movies and a son-in-law’s company that contracts with the federal government.
DeVos’ annual disclosure reports reviewed by The Detroit News provide a rare glimpse of the complicated web of real estate holdings, private equity and hedge fund investments of the DeVos family, which Forbes has estimated to be worth $5 billion.
The 62-year-old education secretary’s wide-ranging investments feature a distillery that makes craft spirits, Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, a minor league hockey team called the Orlando Solar Bears and a company that owns and runs a resort and marina in Eleuthera, Bahamas, that’s currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Critics of DeVos say the Michigan native’s financial holdings, which include a company that offers biofeedback therapy for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, could lead to conflicts of interest as she guides the nation’s education policies inside President Donald Trump’s administration.
Because of Trump’s personal history, it’s not surprising that he would choose “super-rich business” people for his cabinet, said Jordan Libowitz of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“But it does raise extra concerns about potential conflicts of interest because more assets give more opportunity for people to benefit themselves,” Libowitz said.
The education secretary’s supporters counter that there’s no evidence of impropriety, arguing DeVos has complied with ethics requirements and distanced herself from investment decisions while she’s been in office.
The income is “passive,” meaning DeVos has had no control over the sources of it, said Greg McNeilly, chief operating officer for the Windquest Group,an investment management company that DeVos owns with her family.