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Bradley Tusk

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Bradley Tusk is an American businessman, venture capitalist, political strategist, and writer. He is the founder and CEO of Tusk Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on investing in early-stage startups in regulated industries. His foundation Tusk Philanthropies, is working to bring mobile voting to the United States. He is also the chairman of IG Acquisition Corp, a SPAC planning to acquire a business in the leisure, gaming, and hospitality industries. Tusk is the host of the podcast Firewall, a columnist for Fast Company, and author of The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics.

He previously served as the campaign manager for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's successful 2009 re-election bid, as Deputy Governor of Illinois, as Communications Director for US Senator Chuck Schumer, and as an early political advisor to Uber. Bradley Tusk was raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and Nassau County, Long Island. Tusk graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BA in 1995. He has a JD from the University of Chicago Law School, which he received in 1999.

Tusk began his career in politics as an undergraduate student working for the former Mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell. After graduating from college, Tusk became the spokesperson for the New York City Parks Department and helped run various divisions of the agency, most notably launching a successful campaign to change the way New Yorkers obey the leash law. Tusk later returned to serve as Senior Advisor to New York City Parks Commissioner Henry Stern,

Tusk then joined U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer as Communications Director from 2000-2002, handling communications, strategy, and policy for the Senator, most notably in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks on New York City. In 2009, Tusk was named campaign manager for Michael Bloomberg's bid for a third term as Mayor of New York City. While the campaign kept to internal deadlines and made no serious missteps, he believed that the large staff was becoming complacent. The staff was reportedly unhappy about him requiring them to work until 8 pm every night.

 After Bloomberg's re-election, Tusk joined his administration Michael Bloomberg, as special advisor to the mayor. He led a successful effort to rewrite the New York City Charter to allow Bloomberg to serve a third term. He also assisted with creating the Mayor's campaign promise index, making Bloomberg the nation's first public official to report each campaign promise's status publicly.

Tusk returned to New York City politics a decade later as an advisor and strategist for Andrew Yang's campaign in the 2021 New York City mayoral election, playing a unique role as both co-campaign managers were employees of his firm. After referring to Yang as an "empty vessel" in a March interview, critics warned that “Tusk could essentially be the shadow mayor for New York, while he is representing the interests of big corporate clients.” 

Tusk responded to the allegations, declaring, “if we win, I will not lobby or talk with the new mayor — nor anyone in a Yang administration — on any matter that intersects with our work” in a statement. After Yang lost by an unexpectedly wide margin, Yang's former advisers criticized Tusk Strategies for avoiding freewheeling press conferences that were a feature of his Presidential campaign. 

After serving as Deputy Governor of Illinois, Tusk was hired as a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers, where he created the lottery monetization group and headed all of its efforts regarding U.S.-based lotteries. Combining his background in finance and politics, Tusk developed a successful framework to help states monetize their lotteries.

In 2015, Tusk ran a public affairs campaign for Uber that included television, radio, and digital ads as well as direct mail and grassroots organizing in opposition to a cap on rideshare vehicles proposed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The campaign argued that "the company was good for the city, providing jobs and transportation for less affluent residents in the outer boroughs." The bill was dropped before it reached a vote. 

After the campaign's success in New York City, Tusk moved on to other places like Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, D.C. For his representation of Uber, Tusk was compensated with equity in the company, estimated to be worth $100 million. The experience also provided him with exposure to the world of venture capital, and Tusk Ventures was launched two weeks after the New York City victory.

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The Fixer

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