Eric Cantor, the former House Majority Leader, lost his old job in a stunning defeat to a Tea Party challenger in Virginia’s Republican primary earlier this year. The new gig he just landed is, well, less than stunning. Cantor, like many Washington insiders before him, is going to Wall Street.
Boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. announced Tuesday that Cantor, 51, will be joining as vice chairman and managing director, and would also be elected to the company’s board.
“Eric’s judgment and tremendous experience will expand the capabilities our team brings to clients around the world as he has unique expertise in assessing complex situations and crafting innovative solutions,” Ken Moelis, the chairman and CEO of the eponymous investment bank, said in a statement.
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Democrats might take issue with that characterization — they saw Cantor as Congressman “No,” a leader of the GOP’s obstructionist strategy. Tea Party members have already criticized Cantor’s move as validation that he cared more about Big Money than about the people of Virginia’s 7th District, where he served from 2001 to 2014.
Either way, Cantor’s D.C. experience and connections, along with his cultivated ties to the business world, are bound to be valuable to the bank founded in 2007 by Ken Moelis, a Wall Street superstar (and, per The Wall Street Journal, a Republican). The boutique bank went public in April and its stock has surged since then. You can read more about Cantor’s new boss here.
“Eric has proven himself to be a pro-business advocate and one who will enhance our boardroom discussions with C.E.O.s and senior management as we help them navigate their most important strategic decisions,” Moelis added in the statement.
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The bank disclosed in an SEC filing that it will pay Cantor a base salary of $400,000 as well as a signing bonus of $400,000 in cash and $1 million in restricted stock units that vest over five years. For 2015, Cantor will get at least $1.2 million in cash and $400,000 more in restricted stock.
In all, Cantor is in line to get at least $3.4 million. He’ll also get reimbursed for the “reasonable cost” of a New York City apartment for his first 12 months “and a hotel equivalent rate thereafter.”
Cantor’s annual salary as House Majority Leader was $193,400.
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