A secretive private equity mogul advising the Biden White House on climate is out following an Insider investigation

A secretive private equity mogul advising the Biden White House on climate is out following an Insider investigation

A senior State Department climate advisor is leaving his post following an . Private equity mogul Mark Gallogly has stepped down from his position as a senior advisor to President Biden's Special Climate Envoy John Kerry after facing fierce criticism from climate activists and ethics watchdogs over his history of profiting from petroleum-intensive businesses and the use of a loophole in ethics rules that allowed him to keep his investments secret. An Insider investigation into Gallogly's finances published last month found that he has ongoing investments in his former firm, Centerbridge Partners, which has a history of investing in oil and mining interests, even as he seeks to profit from "making investments in decarbonizing the world economy" with a new family investment office. The State Department confirmed Gallogly's departure, which was . The State Department declined to answer questions about whether Gallogly's departure was planned, what prompted it, whether his financial holdings had raised concerns around conflicts of interest, or about the terms on which the former mogul was separating from the agency. In a prepared statement, Kerry praised Gallogly's service: Gallogly apparently joined the Biden climate team in March, after donating generously to the president's campaign. He retired in