The Billiken's Bluff

In 2000 he asks for the Democratic nomination and loses the election. In 2004 he endorses Howard Dean, drives his party to the left, and helps the Democrats lose the election. In 2005, Al Gore is helping to launch a global fund management firm to help investors lose their money.

Generation Investment Management - Gore's most promising invention since the internet! - is the next step on the former vice-president's amusing path of election-loss recovery and re-re-self discovery. The Financial Times reported today that Al and David Blood, a former chief executive at Goldman Sachs Investment Management that has become the Mini-me to Gore's Dr. Evil, have launched a the London-based firm that will begin attracting funds to invest in global equities beginning in the new year.

Or so they hope. I know when I see an idea produced by the same mind that brought us earth-tone presidential candidate wear, the lockbox, sighing during debates and post-loss beard growing, I get a little skeptical. A l'il bit. You see how he invests political capital with that endorsement of Howard Dean, would you want him investing your hard-earned financial capital? If I would have been hard pressed to trust the man as a politician, I certainly would not trust him now as an unemployed, ranting lunatic with his hand out.


Not a good call, Al.

The idea of Al Gore in the fund management business strikes me as silly enough. Setting aside those focus-grouped, earth-tones shirts for some slick Armani Stern style suits, jumping on the phone to raise a little capital like one of the trainees in Boiler Room. The honor's in the dollar kid! It's like Big said, you're either slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot. Lacking a jump shot, Gore did the senator's-son version of slinging rock - he started a global equities fund.


The new Al greases sum palms and makes some deals.

If the new venture doesn't have a very exciting entrepreneur at the helm, it does have a great name. Talking 'bout my G-G-G-Generation! Yeah! Al Gore is such a rockstar now that he has lost all political credibility, he just adds that Earth in the Balance, never-quite-a-hippie (until it was too late) Al Gore feel to an investment firm name. So what's with the cheesy earth-tone name anyways? Well you had to guess there was an Al-Gore catch. Launcing the firm is also a means of promoting what Al sees as just brilliant - brilliant! - new philosophy in global equities stock research and fund management: "sustainability."

You see, it all comes down to the enviornment (wouldn't it have to?)...

(read about Al's new plan tomorrow in part II)