Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of Chicago-based General Growth Properties, met Nov. 28 morning with President-elect Donald Trump, who is interviewing candidates for key positions in the new administration.
Kevin Berry, senior vice president of investor relations at General Growth Properties, confirmed to India-West that Mathrani, 54, had met with Trump at Trump Towers in New York. Berry said he could not comment further on the context of the meeting or on what possible position the Indian American real estate developer might take in Trump’s administration.
Reached at the family’s home in New York, Ayesha Mathrani also confirmed to India-West that her husband had met with the president-elect, but declined to comment further. Sandeep Mathrani had not returned calls to his cell phone at press time.
USINPAC held a conference call Nov. 18 with Rep. Lou Barletta, a member of Trump’s transition team. Barletta announced that there were more than 4,000 jobs available in the Trump administration and urged Indian Americans to apply through the Web site greatagain.gov. (See earlier India-West story here:http://bit.ly/2gDxEK5)
Puri told India-West after the conference call that USINPAC is working to ensure that Indian Americans are prolifically represented within Trump’s administration.
General Growth Properties is the second largest developer of malls in the U.S. The publicly-traded company has developed the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu; Tysons Galleria, in Washington D.C.; the Glendale Galleria in Los Angeles; and the Water Tower Place in Chicago. The company currently has 120 malls in 40 states.
Mathrani joined the company in January 2011, shortly after it had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with $27 billion in debt. He was previously president of retail for Vornado Realty Trust, one of the largest real estate investment trusts – REITs – in the U.S.
The GGP PAC’s recent contributions include donations to North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, a Republican; Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas; and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat who serves as the Senate Minority whip.
Mathrani has made no contributions to Trump’s campaign, and made no political contributions in 2016.
Fortune Magazine reported that Mathrani got the biggest raise of any U.S. CEO in 2015, jumping to $39 million from $5 million the year before, an increase of 702 percent.
Source- India West
