John W. Childs (with Marlene)
March 5, 2001 Boston financier John W. Childs shuns the press. "My theory has generally been: Don't talk to people and they won't write about you," he told the Boston Globe in 1995. But many of the companies he owns through the investment firm J. W. Childs Associates are household names: Nutrasweet, Chevy's, Empire Kosher Poultry, and Edison Schools, to name a few. A graduate of Yale and Columbia universities, Childs first worked with leveraged buyouts at Prudential Insurance during the 1970s, and later moved on to manage the Boston-based buyout firm of Thomas H. Lee (No. 190, $256,800). There he helped negotiate the buyouts of Snapple Beverages and Ghirardelli Chocolate, among others. In 1995, Childs split from Lee, who remains a prominent Democratic donor, to start his own firm. Childs has since earned a reputation as a veritable ATM machine for the GOP. According to a recent study by the State Net Capitol Journal, Childs' contributions in Massachusetts accounted for 25 percent of total receipts to the national Republican Party between 1997 and 1999. One of Childs' most politically sensitive companies is Edison Schools, the country's largest for-profit operator of public schools. Childs and his buyout firm control 14 percent of Edison's common stock. President Bush's proposal to subsidize $3 billion in federal loans to establish new charter schools and issue private school vouchers to students in low-performing schools would certainly encourage Edison's business. As a recent Edison filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission noted: "If this business model fails to gain acceptance among the general public, educators, politicians, and school boards, we may be unable to grow our business." Gap Chairman Donald Fisher (No. 184, $260,800) is also a backer of Edison Schools. -- Michael Scherer | | |
