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updated 7/20/2007
SANTA FE, N.M. — Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson, who once joked he was the poorest member of President Clinton’s Cabinet, has seen his personal finances soar since leaving the federal government in 2001 as energy secretary.
Richardson has enjoyed as much as a 10-fold increase in assets after working in the private sector for two years as a consultant, lecturer and corporate board member — including for energy industry companies — and then as governor of New Mexico since 2003, according to a review of federal records by The Associated Press.
Richardson also worked in 2001 and 2002 for the well-connected firm of Kissinger McLarty Associates — formed by Henry Kissinger, secretary of state in the Nixon administration, and Thomas “Mack” McLarty, who was President Clinton’s chief of staff. The firm advises U.S. and multinational businesses.