Buyer of Rockefeller mansion revealed to be controversial ex-Clinton adviser

The late banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller’s house has a new owner who’s also got a background in charitable work.

The buyer behind the $20 million sale is Doug Band, a former aide and adviser to Bill Clinton, according to the Wall Street Journal. He bought the house through a LLC.

Band, 45, got his start as a Clinton’s White House aide and then continued working for the former president as an adviser until 2011, when Band co-founded a consulting firm called Teneo Holdings.

Following Clinton’s presidency, Band played an integral role in creating the Clinton Global Initiative — and also became a controversial figure within the Clinton camp: WikiLeaks published a memo detailing how Band guided donors to approach Clinton with business offers, and then later, as he started his business, Band blurred lines between his work with the former president and Teneo in incidents ranging from booking reservations at exclusive restaurants under Clinton’s name to invoking their relationship to negotiate a higher price from the U.S. Postal Service for a family-owned Sarasota property, among others, as reported by The New Republic. Band and Clinton, who reportedly had a father-son-like relationship, are no longer close.

The UES property at 146 East 65th Street, which was last priced at $27 million, went into contract in February as The Real Deal reported. The home was initially listed for $32.5 million and hit the market in June of last year, months after the death of late owner David Rockefeller. The listing was handled by Brown Harris Stevens. [WSJ] — Erin Hudson