'Revolving Door Keeps Spinning': Former FCC Head Hired By Carlyle Group

'Julius Genachowski isn't the first FCC chairman to take this path. I wish I could say he would be the last'

Sarah Lazare

Common Dreams

 

Julius Genachowski (Photo: Bloomberg)

In the words of Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron, "The revolving door never seems to stop spinning at the Federal Communications Commission."
Just half a year after resigning his 4-year post as chairman of the FCC, Julius Genachowski has joined the famously shadowy private equity firm Carlyle Group, known by some as the "ex-presidents' club."
Genachowski will "focus on investments in global technology, media and telecom, including Internet and mobile," reads a Carlyle Group statement released Monday announcing Genachowski's position.

Critics expressed dismay that the road from government to private industry is being trod once again.
"It's too bad that so many treat their years of public service as just a stepping stone to a bigger paycheck," Aaron told Common Dreams. "Julius Genachowski isn't the first FCC chairman to take this path. I wish I could say he would be the last."

Genachowski, 51, is a former college and lawschool classmate of President Barack Obama and was groomed by the president for his powerful position at the head of the FCC.

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