Newt's Health Care Think Tank Goes Bankrupt
Much like Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, his multi-million dollar Washington consulting empire is also crumbling. The Center for Health Transformation, Gingrich's health care think tank, filed for bankruptcy today, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. The center's website is down and a spokeswoman has not returned a call.
Newt Inc. appears dead.
If Gingrich was still in the hunt for the GOP nomination this would be big news. But with his campaign on life support, its unlikely to matter much. For the campaign's part, it's already pointing out that Gingrich divested himself from the center in May and had nothing to do with its operations since. But that, of course, raises questions about how well the center was run to begin with if it couldn't survive a year without him.
Rumors of the center's demise began circulating on K Street last week. Asked then if a shut down was imminent, spokeswoman Susan Meyers said she didn't know anything about it. "Right now, the center's doors are still open," she told the Alley. When I checked back on Tuesday, Meyers still had nothing to report.
But K Streeters were hardly surprised by the implosion with some describing the center as a ghost town and a mere shell that, without Newt, could no longer commanded annual membership dues of up to $200,000. In its heyday between 2001 and 2010, it brought in almost $55 million from health care behemoths such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, AstraZeneca, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
The center's failure leaves Gingrich one less option to return to should this whole White House thing not pan out.
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