Karl Rove & Co.

According to the November 5, 1999, Austin Chronicle, "Ted Delisi [then the press spokesman for Texas Attorney General John Cornyn] and Todd Olsen, a registered lobbyist, are fairly new to the political consulting game. In March, the two bought the political consulting portion of Karl Rove & Co., the consulting firm formerly owned by Karl Rove, the chief political strategist in George W. Bush's presidential campaign. Both are former employees of Rove. According to filings at the Texas Ethics Commission, Olsen lobbies for two clients, the Clean Power Campaign and the Texas Association of Paging Services. The combined income from those two clients is less than $60,000. [1]

"However, Olsen and Delisi bought what appears to be a profitable business from Rove, who has worked as a political adviser to most of the statewide officials now in office. Mailing list services are used not only by politicians but by for-profit and nonprofit groups who are eager to have the names and addresses of people who are known for charitable giving. And Rove's lists were among the most sought-after in the direct mail business. As a direct mail guru, Rove raised tens of millions of dollars for Republican politicians in Texas and elsewhere. With such clients as U.S. Senators Phil Gramm, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Kit Bond of Missouri, Rove could easily have continued operating his consulting business, and he apparently planned to do so. But Bush wanted all of Rove's attention. In March, Rove told Michael Holmes of the Associated Press that he was selling his business to Olsen and Delisi because Bush wanted him to do so. Rove said Bush asked him to sell because the candidate didn't 'want my focus diluted.'" [2]