Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Youngkin invested heavily in outsourcing

Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is running for office on a promise to massively boost jobs in Virginia after serving as co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a prominent investment firm based in Washington, D.C., that invests heavily in overseas companies that provide outsourcing services.

Youngkin, who joined Carlyle in 1995, has served in a variety of positions at the firm, including chief operating officer and president. From early 2018 to late 2020, he served as co-chief executive officer.

According to research by American Bridge 21st Century, during Youngkin’s time at the helm, the firm purchased a controlling share in several business process outsourcing companies, which hire people to perform their client companies’ business functions overseas at cheaper rates than the clients would have to pay employees in the United States.

In August 2016, the Carlyle Group reportedly bought 70% of China-based VXI Global Solutions, LLC. The Wall Street Journal noted at the time that the company served both Chinese businesses that outsource their customer relations functions and global businesses that want work done in China.

According to a 2018 report by the Communications Workers of America, AT&T outsourced call center work to VXI’s Philippines facilities.

In December 2017, Carlyle purchased what it called a “significant majority stake” in Visionary RCM. It called its new acquisition “the largest offshore risk adjustment and medical coding solution provider in India.”

As of Thursday, the Carlyle Group still held stakes in both businesses.

A spokesperson for the firm did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.

While Youngkin resigned his position with the company last year to run for governor, he continues to own hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Carlyle stock, meaning he continues to profit from those outsourcing firms.

His candidacy has already been under fire over the Carlyle Group’s track record of shipping jobs overseas.

On July 1, the Associated Press reported that companies in which Carlyle invested during Youngkin’s tenure had offshored at least 1,300 American jobs to such places as South Korea and Mexico.

In February, Youngkin told voters that he stood by his corporate record. “I will own everything that happened at Carlyle, because I was there,” he vowed. “I will never walk away from anything I did in my business career.”

On Monday, the Youngkin campaign accused his Democratic opponent in the race for governor, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, of dishonesty for “attacking Carlyle despite the fact that he profited from his Carlyle investments for years and may still be secretly invested in the company.” The Associated Press reported on July 1 that McAuliffe had once held investments of at least $690,000 in a Carlyle private equity fund; Christina Freundlich, a spokesperson for McAuliffe’s campaign, said he now holds investments in Carlyle worth less than $5,000.

In an email to The American Independent Foundation, Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter did not directly answer questions about his record of outsourcing jobs. “Ask Carlyle investor Terry McAuliffe, who profited and continues to profit off his Carlyle investments and now is dishonestly criticizing them,” he said, noting that McAuliffe appointed once appointed an executive from Carlyle to a state job. “Terry knows the truth — that Glenn helped Carlyle create thousands of jobs and restart hundreds of businesses.”

American Bridge 21st Century spokesperson Max Steele disagreed, saying, “Under Glenn Youngkin’s watch, when the Carlyle Group wasn’t forcing seniors in mobile homes to choose between food, medicine, and rent, they were investing hundreds of millions in foreign companies that specialize in helping American businesses outsource jobs.

“With more than $300 million still invested in his old company, Youngkin continues to profit from the pain and suffering of Americans who’ve seen their jobs shipped overseas in the name of shareholder value,” he added.

Youngkin’s campaign website frames him as the person who can restore jobs to an economically troubled state. “Virginia is being tested. This has been a tough time, with loved ones lost, jobs lost, and a country divided,” it says. “Getting there will take a new kind of governor, an outsider who is trusted and who can bring people together around our shared values. A governor who understands the challenges we face are worth taking on.”

Youngkin has compared himself to Donald Trump, who has endorsed him, saying that, like the one-term president, he “can get jobs like we’ve never seen.” Trump left office in January having lost the nation a net 3 million jobs.

Under term-limited Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and a Democratic-controlled legislature, Virginia was named the best state for business in the nation on Tuesday by CNBC.

Meanwhile, Youngkin has been in the news lately for attacking LGBTQ rights during Pride Month, using an offensive term to describe Asian American people, and admitting that he is hiding his extreme anti-abortion views in order to get elected in an overwhelmingly pro-choice state.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.