Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, 58, was interviewed with Bowles and Simpson on CNBC on Oct. 11 to promote reviving a bipartisan plan to reduce the $16 trillion U.S. government debt.
If there were "some compromise laid out, what kind of stimulus do you think that would provide?" Blankfein asked at the time. "I'd be a buyer of the market."
Blankfein, who wouldn't reveal which candidate he voted for, said now that it's over, "we can all focus on playing a part toward our shared goal of making our country and economy more successful."
Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman for JPMorgan, declined to comment when asked which candidate Dimon supported.
"To succeed in business you have to be able to compromise, why should that be different in politics?" John Mack, the former chairman of Morgan Stanley and a Romney backer, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Betty Liu. "Erskine has plenty of experience not only in government but in business. He ran his own business. He grew up in business."
Bowles has served as a board member of Morgan Stanley since December 2005, when Mack was CEO and chairman. He is also a director of Facebook Inc. and Norfolk Southern Corp. His wife, Crandall Bowles, is on JPMorgan's board.
Fink, Lew
Mack said he doesn't think the administration worked closely enough with the business community, adding that he would be comforted by seeing Obama choose a CEO to run Treasury such as BlackRock Inc.'s Larry Fink, General Electric Co.'s Jeff Immelt, American Express Co.'s Kenneth I. Chenault or Honeywell International Inc.'s David Cote.
"Not only are they first-class executives but they're global, and the next Treasury secretary has to have experience in the global economy," he said.
Others on Wall Street said that experience in Washington might be more important for the next Treasury secretary than a business background. Jacob Lew, 57, Obama's chief of staff, has years of experience as both a congressional aide and as director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.