The ex-Bill Clinton adviser at the center of the tell-all Vanity Fair article where he claimed the former President sabotaged Hillary'...
The ex-Bill Clinton adviser at the center of the tell-all Vanity Fair article where he claimed the former President sabotaged Hillary's White House run has announced he is standing down from PR company Teneo to 'focus on his family office'.
Doug Band, who used to be one of Clinton's closest advisers, said he is resigning from his position as president of Teneo, the communications and advisory firm he co-founded with Declan Kelly and Paul Keary back in 2011.
Band, 48, broke the news to his 800-strong workforce in an email Monday, according to the Financial Times.
In it, he said he was bidding farewell with a 'heavy heart' but that he didn't want to regret staying too long at the company at the detriment of pursuing 'other dreams and ideas' - something he cited as a regret from his time working with Clinton.
The shock announcement comes just one week after Band broke his silence about his time inside 'Clintonworld' in a bombshell interview with Vanity Fair.
Band made several extraordinary claims including that Clinton didn't want his wife to win the 2008 presidential election because then it would be 'all about her' and that he did visit convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's Caribbean island - despite his repeated denials of ever stepping foot on it.
Doug Band (above), the ex-Bill Clinton adviser at the center of the tell-all Vanity Fair article where he claimed the former President sabotaged Hillary's White House run has announced he is standing down from PR company Teneo to 'focus on his family office'
Band and Clinton in an undated photo. Band, who used to be one of Clinton's closest advisers, said he is resigning from his position as president of Teneo
Band said in an email to staff this week that he was leaving Teneo to focus on expanding his family office, investing in start-ups and teaching, the Times reported.
'In my first and only career after college, having the honour of working for President Clinton, I only regretted one thing: I wish I had left earlier to pursue other dreams and ideas,' he wrote.
'This is not a regret I wish to have again. It is then with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to my Teneo family, and what an amazing family it is.'
CVC Capital Partnera, the UK-based private equity firm that bought a majority stake in Teneo last year, supports his decision, he added.
Teneo confirmed the news in a statement Tuesday that said Band was retiring to 'spend more time with his family and pursue other interests.'
'Doug Band, who co-founded Teneo with Declan Kelly and Paul Keary in 2011, has decided to retire from the firm,' the company said.
'Doug wants to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests including his teaching career, some private investing and other projects.
'The firm understands, supports and respects his decision and wishes him and his wonderful family only the best moving forward.'
Teneo thanked Band for his work in growing the business to become 'the leading CEO advisory firm in the world' with over 800 employees across more than 20 locations worldwide.
Teneo co-founder Paul Keary, Gracia Martore, President and CEO of Gannett, Billie Jean King and Doug Band (left to right) in 2014 at the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative Gala in New York. Band founded Teneo with Declan Kelly and Keary back in 2011
Former Financial Dynamics US chair and CEO Kelly and former senior MD of FTI Consulting Keary are staying at the company and will continue in their roles as chairman and CEO, and COO respectively.
Teneo is a global CEO advisory firm that counts the leaders of Fortune 100 and FTSE 100 companies such as UBS and Coca-Cola among its client base.
It has grown rapidly through acquisitions throughout its nine-year tenure and the three founders made $700 million selling a controlling stake in the business to CVC last year.
Band founded the company with Kelly and Keary back in 2011, soon after he had parted ways with Clinton amid mounting tensions with Clinton's daughter Chelsea.
At the time he had worked with Clinton for 16 years and had become one of his closest aides and confidantes.
News of Band's departure from his latest venture comes just one week after he broke his silence on his time with the Clintons in a bombshell interview with Vanity Fair.
Band, 48, broke the news to his 800-strong workforce in an email Monday, according to the Financial Times. He said he didn't want to regret staying too long - something he said was a regret he had from his time working with Clinton (pictured together above)
Band, Clinton and White House Chief of Staff John Podesta in 2001 as Clinton prepared to leave the White House Oval Office
In the article, Band made a series of shock claims and disparaging comments about the former president, around two decades since he left office.
He described being so close to the Clintons that it was like being in a 'cult' that is 'hard to get yourself out'.
One of his most shocking claims was that Clinton sabotaged Hillary's 2008 failed Presidential run because he didn't want her to win and hog the spotlight from him.
He wanted his wife to 'stay out of politics and do great big things', said Band.
Band said Clinton deliberately behaved erratically on the campaign trail, shouted at voters and mocked Barack Obama which earned scorn from Democrats and helped her to lose.
Band said: 'He was used to it being all about him, and if she won, it would be all about her.
'That's not how he lived his life for the four decades leading up to that election.
'In her White House, he would be back under a microscope but without the benefit of being the one in charge'.
A Clinton spokesperson told Vanity Fair: 'That's ridiculous. President Clinton did more than 300 events on her behalf, and very much wanted her to win'.
Another bombshell claim in the article was that Clinton did visit Epstein's Caribbean island Little St. James - something he has repeatedly denied.
Band said he had been trying to get Clinton away from Epstein since their notorious 2002 trip to Africa on the pedophile's private plane called the 'Lolita Express'.
The shock announcement comes just one week after Band broke his silence about his time inside 'Clintonworld' in a bombshell interview with Vanity Fair. Band said Clinton sabotaged Hillary's 2008 Presidential run because he didn't want her to win
Band said he didn't know about Epstein's crimes then - he was first arrested in 2006 - but got enough 'bad vibes' to advise Clinton to cut ties with him.
But he didn't and in 2006 Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation and Clinton made more than 24 more trips on Epstein's jet.
In January 2003 Clinton visited Epstein's island in the US Virgin Islands, which locals called 'Pedo Island', according to Band.
A Clinton spokesperson denied this and showed travel log entries with no visit to the island.
The former adviser also said Chelsea was close friends with Epstein's alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell because 'Ghislaine had access to yachts and nice homes' and 'Chelsea needed that'.
In 2010 Chelsea invited Maxwell to her lavish wedding in Rhinebeck, New York, even though Epstein had by then admitted to having sex with a minor and served 15 months in jail.
Band also told Vanity Fair he once levelled with Clinton and said if he wanted to have affairs, he should divorce Hillary because it was the 'honorable thing to do'.
Band also said Clinton was so out of touch when he left the White House that he didn't even know what the TV show Friends was.
Band was just 22 and doing a law degree at Georgetown University when he landed an unpaid internship in the White House in 1995 during Clinton's first term.
According to Band, Clinton did visit the Caribbean island owned by Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 despite his denials. Pictured: Clinton with Epstein's alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell on Epstein's private plane in 2002
A Clinton spokesperson denied Clinton visited the island (above) and showed travel log entries with no visit to the island
The former adviser also said Chelsea was close friends with Epstein's alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell because 'Ghislaine had access to yachts and nice homes' and 'Chelsea needed that'. In 2010 Chelsea invited Maxwell to her lavish wedding in Rhinebeck, New Yor (above)
When Clinton left office in 2001 Band went with him and helped to resurrect the Clinton brand that was tarnished by controversial pardons and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.
He helped him set up the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation, the family's philanthropic arms, which turned Clinton's fortunes around.
The relationship between Band and the Hiltons soured around 2011, he told Vanity Fair, when Chelsea began to assume more power and control over the family affairs.
According to a friend of the Clintons, Chelsea 'hated Doug because he was like a son to her father'.
It was around this time that Band had launched Teneo and offered Clinton $2.5 million to sit on the board.
Band told Vanity Fair Chelsea told her father it wasn't enough and she wanted ownership in Teneo for her and her husband financier Marc Mezvinsky, something he refused because he 'thought she was kidding or deeply sick'.
Clinton sided with Chelsea and Band's relationship with the family permanently fell apart.
A Clinton family spokesman said in a statement about the Vanity Fair article: 'No staffer has ever used their role to serve their interests as much as Doug Band.
'For many years he was a valuable member of President Clinton's team and supportive of Clinton Foundation programs. Until he wasn't. He put the foundation at risk by leveraging a world-class philanthropy for his own financial gain. It's as disappointing a story as it is a sad one and ultimately why Doug Band and the Clintons parted ways'.
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