US

Obama stays at private equity guru’s $7.6 million Martha’s Vineyard house

Patrick Howley Political Reporter
Font Size:

President Obama is renting out a private equity guru’s mega-mansion during his 8-day Martha’s Vineyard family vacation.

Obama and his family arrived Saturday at the $7.6 million home of David Schulte, founder of the private equity firm Chilmark Partners. The four-bedroom, 5,000-square foot home sits on nine and a half acres in the Chilmark area of Martha’s Vineyard and boasts “floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Atlantic.” According to Bloomberg’s Juliana Goldman, “While the First Family’s there, they can swim in the Infinity pool, they could shoot hoops on a half-basketball court, even hit the gym, they could also play tennis on the tennis court there.”

The Obamas, who make a point of contributing to the cost of such taxpayer-funded trips, will reportedly be paying the rental costs of the estate.

The first family used to stay at a different friend’s Martha’s Vineyard estate, most recently in 2011, but British architect and seemingly conservative-leaning former House of Lords member Norman Foster bought it.

Schulte, whose private equity firm specializes in mergers and acquisitions and corporate “restructuring,” was one of Obama’s 2013 inaugural donors. Before founding the Chicago-based Chilmark Partners in 1984, Schulte, a Yale Law School graduate, directed the Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers’ “Corporate Reorganization Group.”

Meanwhile, another private equity group founder, former Bain Capital CEO Mitt Romney, slammed President Obama’s job performance in a speech last week in the New England summer resort town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Obama’s approval rating in a recent Gallup poll stands at 41 percent, with 50 percent of Americans disapproving of his job performance.

Follow Patrick on Twitter