Exclusive | Kathy Wylde eyes new gig with Saudi’s – Business News
New York City energy broker Kathryn Wylde has held talks to hitch Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as a lobbyist and marketing consultant for the oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdom, The Post has realized.
Two sources close to the scenario mentioned the well-connected 79-year-old is eyeing a post with Riyadh’s $1 trillion Public Investment Fund, and that discussions befell over the vacation period.
The talks have been held between Wylde and a consultant for the Saudis, based on one of the sources. They are fluid and nonetheless of their early levels, each sources mentioned.
Kathryn Wylde has been a New York City energy broker for practically twenty years, having led the Partnership for New York City. Stephen Yang for the NY Post
Wylde declined to remark when approached by The Post on Thursday. A spokesperson for PIF didn’t reply to a request for remark.
If sealed, the plum gig would mark a shock pivot for the outgoing CEO of Partnership for New York City, who, after years of brokering behind-the-scenes offers between business moguls and metropolis bigs, informed The Post final yr that she deliberate to retire.
Sources acquainted with the matter informed The Post that Wylde had been “discussing the idea” with Big Apple CEOs within the run-up to the Christmas break.
Wylde, who has Wall Street titans reminiscent of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and KKR founder Henry Kravis on pace dial, not too long ago solid ties with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after he received the Nov. 5 election.
She even went on to secure an unpaid advisory function on his transition crew as an financial adviser. That’s although Wylde opposed recent taxes on the wealthy that the hard-left Hizzoner believes will help bankroll his democratic socialist agenda.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is one of the Wall Street bigwigs who sits on the Partnership for New York City government committee alongside Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan and BlackRock’s Larry Fink. REUTERS
“It’s part of her ‘Wylde’ plan,” one well-placed source mentioned of the attainable Saudi job. “Kathy is touting her proximity to business and the new mayor.”
Two insiders close to the scenario mentioned that some of the financial bigwigs concerned with Wylde’s foyer group had been left bemused by her overtures to the business-bashing Mamdani after his beautiful victory.
It is unclear what new initiatives for the Big Apple the Saudis — led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, generally known as MBS — are planning, however PIF holds investments in tech, real estate and sports activities, together with a majority stake in English soccer giant Newcastle United. Last month, it snapped up video video games titan Electronic Arts in a $55 billion mega-deal.
President Trump has overseen a reset in US-Saudi relations and took a delegation of CEOs to Riyadh final May to drum up investment within the United States. AP
“Kathy is adept at seeing where the winds are blowing, and with the [Trump] administration so focused on Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, someone with her background is going to follow the wind. If you are the Saudis and you want to understand the new mayor, you’ve got a bridge named Kathy Wylde,” the individual briefed on the matter added.
Last yr, PIF partnered with Related Companies on a deliberate 1,200-foot tower in Midtown Manhattan at 625 Madison Ave. The fund has invested $200 million thus far and plans to carry a two-thirds stake within the website, with whole development prices anticipated to exceed $1 billion.
“PIF is involved in everything. They are invested in everything from real estate to finance in the United States. She’s connected, and if they hire her, then they are just adding to their capabilities and their connections in the US,” a Wall Street investor, talking on situation of anonymity, informed The Post.
Last yr, PIF partnered with Related Companies on a deliberate 1,200-foot tower in Midtown Manhattan at 625 Madison Ave. Google Maps
“Kathy wants to stay on the field. She’s not going to drift into the sunset,” one Big Apple political operative noticed.
Wylde is slated to step down from the Partnership for New York City later this month as soon as her successor, Steven Fulop, completes his time period because the mayor of Jersey City, NJ, on Jan.15.
She informed The Post final May that she would retire after leaving the plum function that comes with a $1.6 million annual paycheck, based on the group’s newest out there tax filings.
Despite her high-powered job, she nonetheless lives in her one-bedroom apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Last month, the Wisconsin native mentioned that she plans to stay engaged within the challenges confronted by New York City.
“I am definitely not at my age looking for a full-time job,” the someday Post contributor, who turns 80 in June, informed Bloomberg Television final month. “I do not plan to take another job, but I do plan to help the new mayor if he wants it.”
Wylde led the Partnership of New York, set up by David Rockefeller in 1979, from 2011 after first becoming a member of the nonprofit means back in 1982.
The Big Apple business foyer group represents over 350 company titans together with banks, law companies and main firms.
Its government committee consists of some of the largest names in Wall Street, reminiscent of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Citi boss Jane Fraser and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was set up in 1971 to fund strategic financial initiatives at home, but it surely was revamped below the management of bin Salman in 2015 to reposition itself as a world investor.
Riyadh has moved to rebuild ties with the US that have been upended within the wake of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s homicide, which US intelligence pinned on bin Salman. Trump travelled to Saudi Arabia in May for an investment convention that officers there branded “MAGA in the Desert.”
One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, PIF goals to grow to be a $3 trillion powerhouse by 2030.
