WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary-nominee Robert Gates' assets include up to $250,000 in stock in a defense contractor on whose board he serves, a financial disclosure report made public Tuesday shows.
If confirmed as defense secretary, Gates will divest his holdings in the company, NACCO Industries, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. He will step away from any Defense Department matters involving NACCO for at least a year, she said.
Gates is a member of the board of directors of NACCO Industries, the Cleveland-based parent of the NACCO Materials Handling Group, a truck, housewares and mining services company and Defense Department contractor.
He holds stock worth $100,000 to $250,000 and earned $134,750 in director fees from the company from 2004 to the present, the period covered by the financial report he filed with the federal government.
Gates plans to sell all the stock he owns in individual companies and to sever all ties with them if he becomes Pentagon chief, Perino said.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox