Meg Whitman

Why in the name of a discounted burrito is one of the world's richest people writing an op-ed in the Sunday paper about the future of New Mexico's economy?

Good question. Let's take a look. 

Meg Whitman, according to Forbes, is worth $3.7 billion and ranks as the 1,100 richest person on the planet. An outlet called The Richest (yes, for real) says of her wealth: 

Her fortune stems primarily from eBay stock during her 1998–2008 CEO tenure, plus compensation from HP (2011–2018) exceeding $35 million annually at peaks, and board roles at Procter & Gamble and others. 

Whitman, now an ABQ resident who assumes the title of the state's wealthiest citizen (by far), ran unsuccessfully for the 2010 GOP nomination for governor of California, so that causal op-ed she penned raised the question of whether she was looking at seeking elective office again--perhaps right here in River City.

Apparently not. Whitman, who spent a breathtaking $144 million of her own money on that 2010 campaign, could conceivably try to unseat Sen. Ben Ray Lujan who is seeking a second term this year. But he can breath easy. We're informed that's not in the cards.  

EYES ON UNM? 

But what Whitman may have her eyes on, reports one of our Senior Alligators, is the presidency of the University of New Mexico. And why not? Meg has an MBA from Harvard so she just might fit in here at our very own Harvard on the Rio Grande. Or maybe not. 

The UNM Board of Regents is taking applications to replace outgoing President Garnett Stokes. No confirmation yet on whether Whitman, 69, has applied. Although she is known as a moderate Republican, in this woke era (or really any other) awarding the presidency to someone in good standing with the world oligarchy might rub the common folk the wrong way. 

Or maybe not. She does have a strong Dem connection,  

Whitman says she and her husband moved to ABQ in February 2025 after she served as US Ambassador to Kenya for two and a half years, appointed by President Biden (who condemned the rise of an oligarchy in his exit speech.) 

Sen. Munoz

DEAR GEORGE. . .

Furthering that Dem relationship, in her op-ed Whitman gives a love tap to conservative Democrat and state Senate Finance Committee chairman George Munoz:

Sen. George Muñoz. . .recently announced a bold investment in a quantum computing and emerging technology “moonshot” — a cornerstone of a targeted $1.5 billion package designed to jump-start New Mexico’s innovation economy, accelerate development and commercialization of transformative technologies, and position the state as a national leader. 

Does George, the holder of the UNM purse, get on the phone and put in a good word for Meg with UNM Regents President Paul Blanchard? 

Whitman's op-ed indicates she may need a tutorial in how in the past the state has been led down a primrose path littered with high tech innovations that never came and as a fall in socioeconomic conditions continued. But she does get credit for giving it the college try. What remains to be seen is whether she ends back up in college. 

SPEAKING OF. . .  

Speaking of former ambassadors, former NM Governor Bill Richardson was one--to the United Nations no less. But our long-held fear that Big Bill, one of the more charismatic politicians in state history, would have his legacy irreparably damaged by the Epstein affair, sadly continues to come true. The latest:

 Former Gov. Bill Richardson arranged to meet with Jeffrey Epstein at least nine times after the financier’s Florida conviction on sex crimes, including a visit to Epstein’s private island, newly released records show. Richardson scheduled meetings with Epstein as late as 2018, according to emails included in a batch of more than 3 million documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Epstein, who owned a large property in southern Santa Fe County called Zorro Ranch, was indicted the following year in New York on federal child sex trafficking charges and died in federal custody just over a month later. . . .

 In 2019. . .a spokesperson for Richardson denied Richardson was Epstein’s friend, claiming “to the best of his recollection,” the former governor had visited Epstein’s ranch outside Santa Fe only once while he was campaigning in 2002. 

Richardson also denied ever visiting Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, emails and flight logs show the two carried on a relationship in the intervening years, planning meetings at Zorro Ranch, Epstein’s Manhattan home and elsewhere. Richardson visited the private island — where Epstein was accused of sexually abusing numerous girls — in 2010, records indicate. 

Emails suggest he visited Epstein’s island in November 2010.. . Richardson and his wife would be visiting St. Thomas in two days, and Richardson wanted to call Epstein after they arrived, an aide to Richardson wrote in an email to Epstein’s assistant. Emails between Epstein and someone who appears to be his assistant show them then coordinating Richardson’s visit to the private island. “His wife is here with a group of girl friends so it will just be him,” the aide wrote in an email to Epstein, after talking to Richardson on the phone. Richardson would be free to come in the following two days, the aide wrote.

Cynics will say this information is not startling but the confirmation that Richardson blatantly lied about his involvement with Epstein and that his relationship was even deeper than suspected, may in the future loom larger than the memory of his often productive eight years as governor.

Richardson did escape the indignity of having the Epstein affair featured in his obituary. He died at 75 in 2023. 

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