HARTFORD, Conn. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski earned $29 million during 2020 and 2021 — helping fuel his current run for governor.
Stefanowski released his federal tax returns after 11 p.m. Thursday showing total income of $15.7 million in 2020 and $13.6 million in the following year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The spike in 2020 marked a sharp uptick from the previous year of $7.38 million.
After earning $36.8 million in total income in three years, Stefanowski has now set aside $10 million to fund his current campaign — more than triple his total for the 2018 battle against Lamont that he lost by 3 percentage points. The two multimillionaire former business executives have been running numerous television commercials on a variety of channels even before the Labor Day holiday that traditionally marks the kickoff of the fall election season.
“By releasing three years of joint tax returns today, the Stefanowskis are providing a refreshing level of transparency to the people of Connecticut, one which Governor Lamont and his wife have repeatedly failed to match,” said campaign spokeswoman Sarah Clark.
Lamont’s wife, Annie, is a highly successful venture capitalist, and she has not released her tax returns. She files taxes separately from Ned Lamont, while the Stefanowskis file a joint return.
Stefanowski did not release a list of the business clients who pay him, which has already become an issue in the campaign. Democrats had already been raising criticisms, and that theme continued Friday.
“The simple truth is that Stefanowski broke his promise to be transparent with voters. If he is serious about representing the people of Connecticut – not special interests – he has to come clean about who he really works for,” said Onotse Omoyeni, Lamont’s campaign spokeswoman. “Stefanowski has conjured up concerns about confidentiality in lieu of being honest with people across the state. Until he reveals his client list, the people of Connecticut won’t know who he really wants to represent in Hartford.”
Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said, “Once again, Bob Stefanowski has failed to make good on promises of transparency. We now know he earned $36 million over the last three years, but we have no idea how he earned it. He said he’d make that public, and he hasn’t. We know Bob has made a living in the past leading companies that prey on low-income families. Is he still doing that? Who’s paying him? Voters deserve to know.”
While Stefanowski earned $36.8 million in three years, Lamont earned $26 million in three years from 2018 through 2020. Lamont has not released his 2021 tax returns because he filed for an extension.
Both Stefanowski and Lamont have released summaries of their taxes — rather than all pages that are filed every year under the traditional April 15 deadline. Neither candidate has released schedules of specific deductions, capital gains or business income. Stefanowski and his wife, Amy, released the first two pages of their federal tax returns, but not their state returns.
The joint returns also included income from businesses operated by Amy Stefanowski under the names of Sound Homes LLC and 33 Fair Street LLC. She is listed as a Realtor on the returns, and the campaign said she is the sole owner of businesses involved in home remodeling, staging and rental.
Lamont released his returns in April in a conference room where reporters were not allowed to leave the room with copies of the actual tax returns. He released a one-page written summary and two pages showing a list of charitable contributions over the past three years. Reporters saw two pages of federal returns and four pages of state returns for three years.
The Stefanowskis provided a list of investments in 75 separate mutual funds, stocks and private equity funds, but the precise amounts were not released. Some of the investments are with major national financial firms like Fidelity, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, and Vanguard.
During a business career of more than 30 years, Stefanowski, 60, has been a well-paid corporate executive at major positions in the United States and abroad. He spent 13 at General Electric Co., including director of mergers and acquisitions at GE Commercial Equipment Finance for five years. He also served as president and CEO at GE Commercial and Industrial Finance from 2003-2004, president and CEO at GE Telecom, Media & Technology Finance from 2004-05, and president and CEO at GE Corporate Finance, Europe, Middle East & Africa.
Stefanowski also spent three years as chief financial officer at UBS Investment Bank in London and three years as chief executive officer of DFC Global, a payday lending company. He created a corporate consulting firm in 2017 in Madison under the name of Lolo Consulting LLC that advises companies on mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy in the areas of healthcare, energy, and financial services.
———
