Trump’s Pick For The SBA Kelly Loeffler Struggled To Run Her Own Small Business

Forbes

Kelly Loeffler describes herself as an entrepreneur whose work ethic propelled her from a simple family farm to the upper echelons of finance and politics. The truth is more complicated.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2025/01/08/trumps-pick-for-the-sba-kelly-loeffler-struggled-to-run-her-own-small-business/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Trump's pick for the SBA struggled to run her own small business.

00:08Two days before the 2024 election, former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler strode to the stage at a

00:14Trump rally in Macon, Georgia, wearing a bright pink jacket that perfectly matched the pink MAGA

00:19hats in the stands behind her. With her hand in the air, she yelled, quote,

00:24Speaking to the crowd, she took direct aim at billionaire Mark Cuban,

00:32who had recently said Trump does not associate with strong, intelligent women. She said, quote,

00:50Loeffler likes to paint herself as a self-made business titan.

00:54There's no question she has had a successful career, mostly at Intercontinental Exchange,

00:59the parent company to the New York Stock Exchange, where she led investor relations,

01:03marketing and communications, accumulating enough equity to sell more than $30 million of shares

01:10and still retain a $12 million stake. But the real money in her household,

01:15a nearly 20,000-square-foot spread in Atlanta, comes from Loeffler's husband, Jeff Sprecher,

01:21the founder of Intercontinental Exchange, who is worth an estimated $1 billion.

01:27Loeffler, who married Sprecher in 2004, two years after joining his company, chafes at the

01:33suggestion that she owes her financial success to her husband. Lately, she has jumped at opportunities

01:39to prove herself. In 2018, she became CEO of crypto startup Bakkt and promptly rang up massive losses.

01:47With the business flailing, she shifted to politics, writing a big check to Georgia's governor,

01:52who then appointed her to the U.S. Senate after Johnny Isakson stepped down amid health concerns.

01:58On Capitol Hill, Loeffler sowed doubts about the 2020 election and spoke out against Black Lives

02:03Matter, leading players on her WNBA team to campaign for her opponent. She then lost her

02:09only election, handing her seat to Baptist pastor Raphael Warnock and helping flip control of the

02:15U.S. Senate to Democrats. But with enough cash and connections, there's no end to second chances.

02:22Loeffler's latest? An appointment to Donald Trump's cabinet, where she will helm the

02:26Small Business Administration, despite her own small business struggles. Former Secretary of

02:32the Navy Richard Spencer, who worked with Loeffler before and after she joined Intercontinental

02:37Exchange and is one of several former colleagues who remain impressed with her, says, quote,

02:42A communications professional, Loeffler has a knack for self-promotion,

03:03portraying herself more like an ultra-wealthy mogul than a mere executive, complete with a

03:08rags-to-riches tale. She often talks about how she grew up on a family farm in Illinois,

03:14emphasizing humble roots while glossing over the significant scale of the operation,

03:19which reportedly included 1,800 acres and a trucking business.

03:24In 2018, Intercontinental Exchange wanted to get into crypto. The company announced that Loeffler

03:30would be leaving by the end of the year, and Loeffler announced a new business, Bakkt, where

03:35she would serve as CEO. By year's end, it had raised $182.5 million. But documents filed with

03:43the Securities and Exchange Commission made clear that this was not a typical startup raise.

03:48Intercontinental Exchange, still helmed by Loeffler's husband Sprecher, held a majority

03:53stake in the business. Bakkt mostly seemed to focus on developing a Bitcoin futures contract,

03:59which would allow traders to bet on the eventual price of cryptocurrency.

04:03Bakkt's Bitcoin futures contracts finally hit the market in September 2019.

04:09By the end of 2019, her business had generated zero revenue and accumulated $33 million of losses.

04:16It still depended heavily on Intercontinental Exchange for both money and operational support,

04:22and Bakkt's business model needed a complete overhaul.

04:27For full coverage, check out Dan Alexander's piece on Forbes.com.

04:32This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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