The French Connection: Trump Family Trusts Are Invested in Hydroxychloroquine Maker

[babylonsister]

ICYMI...


The French Connection: Trump Family Trusts Are Invested in Hydroxychloroquine Maker
Colin Kalmbacher
4/7/2020


According to a Monday night report by the New York Times, Trump’s family stands to benefit from widespread use of the drug. Per that report:

If hydroxychloroquine becomes an accepted treatment, several pharmaceutical companies stand to profit, including shareholders and senior executives with connections to the president. Mr. Trump himself has a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.

According to Trump’s 2019 Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the 45th president’s three family trusts each have two line item entries describing investments between $1,001 and $15,000 apiece in the Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund.

The Times notes that Sanofi, the drug manufacturer, is the mutual fund’s largest individual holding. According to MarketWatch, the exact size of the fund’s stake in Sanofi “at last check was 3.3%.”

Marketwatch also notes–and shrugs off–additional Sanofi stakes:

It turns out he does look to have more than [a] modest sum invested in Sanofi, because, unmentioned in the Times report, his trusts also hold broader European stock-market index funds.

The iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF IEFA, 1.721% has 0.67% of its holdings in Sanofi, and Sanofi is a 0.78% holding for the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF EFA, 1.660%, which is neither surprising nor notable, in that the French drug maker is so large.

Aside from Trump and his family’s personal stake, at least two of Trump’s closest political allies are closely connected to Sanofi as well.

Republican mega donor and billionaire Ken Fisher runs Fisher Asset Management, one of the drug manufacturer’s largest shareholders.

According to Federal Election Committee (FEC) data compiled by OpenSecrets, Fisher Investments has contributed in excess of $2 million to GOP organizations and politicians over the past five election cycles.

more...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-french-connection-trump-family-trusts-are-invested-in-hydroxychloroquine-maker/ar-BB12he2q

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Small world.

Trump Has ‘Small,’ ‘Distant Link’ To Sanofi, French Drugmaker Of Hydroxychloroquine

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/04/07/trump-has-small-distant-link-to-sanofi-french-drugmaker-of-hydroxychloroquine/#6597d5167260



And very, very bad.

[crickets]

2. The conflict of interest is a feature, not a bug. Every time. nt

[ProfessorGAC]

3. I Wouldn't Run With This Story Too Far

The numbers in this article are clear.
Even if they double their investment it's still small potatoes.
There are better conflict of interest issues to pound on. Like the hyperinflated costs to secret service at PINOs resorts, in direct violation of emoluments prohibitions.

[DrToast]

4. It was ignored the first time because there's nothing there

It's one of many stocks in a mutual fund.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. And, Tiny Money

Plenty of other things to beat on.

[babylonsister]

6. Maybe he's just taking care of his mega-donors. Quid pro quo. nt

[ProfessorGAC]

7. I Suppose

But, it's an old, low margin drug, and there's no real run on it (after a hot week or two) because multiple studies show it's definitely NOT a magic bullet.
It's just another low margin drug.
Like ampicillin. Easy to make, but not a huge profit margin.

[Cicada]

8. No. Mutual fund with tiny stake doesn't count.

I don’t know 95% of the companies my mutual fund owns. No one, with few exceptions, know what companies their mutual fund owns.

[EndlessWire]

9. Maybe it was small to begin with

although I think he said he had divested his stocks, but:

It ain't small potatoes (you know, with guards) when POTUS is out there addressing the nation on the magic of this drug that he has stock in. He is urging people to take a drug that regularly trained docs are telling people to stay away from, that it doesn't work as a preventive medicine.

He's crossed the line. I recall the first couple that followed his advice. They are dead now.