July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Steven Rattner stepped down as head of the U.S. panel that forced General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC into bankruptcy, signaling the government was easing into a new role as a passive investor in the automakers.
His departure leaves Ron Bloom, a former union adviser and Lazard Ltd. vice president, to oversee remaining Obama administration carmaker decisions, including when to sell stakes in the two companies it bailed out with more than $75 billion in taxpayer money.
Rattner, the Wall Street investor named by President Barack Obama to lead the task force in February, pushed through the reorganizations by demanding concessions from the union, the carmakers and bondholders, and firing GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner.
Rattner is a Wall Street investor - who else was he involved with?
Rattner has no plans to return to Quadrangle Group LLC, the New York City private equity firm he co-founded, according to a person familiar with his plans. Adam Miller, a spokesman for Quadrangle, declined to comment, and Rattner couldn’t be reached.
Quadrangle in April was linked to federal and state probes of millions of dollars in pension fund kickbacks in New York.
While at Quadrangle, Rattner managed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's multi-billion dollar investments according to a NY Times article from Jan. 16, 2008.
