Eric Cantor has landed a new job at an investment bank

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

On Tuesday, boutique Wall Street investment bank Moelis & Co. announced a new hire: recently defeated House Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Cantor, 51, will be vice chairman, board member, and a managing director based in New York City, but he will soon open an office in Washington, D.C.

Founder Ken Moelis tells The Wall Street Journal that he hired Cantor, a lawyer who has no background in banking, for his "judgment and experience" and ability to open doors. Cantor said that he and Moelis, whom he has known for three years, started discussing his employment right before July 4, when the men and their wives were having brunch together in Los Angeles.

The investment and securities industries contributed $1.4 million to Cantor's failed re-election bid in the last cycle, more than any other sector. Cantor's new "compensation wasn't immediately known," The Journal says. But former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) — who now works for Deloitte & Touche — predicted to The New York Times Magazine recently that Cantor would make out fine in the private sector: "I think it would be easy for him to become Eric Cantor Inc. and make a few million dollars a year." Moelis & Co., with about 500 employees, went public in the spring and now has a market value of about $2 billion.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.