Wesley K. Clark, the retired Army general and onetime supreme allied commander in Europe for NATO, has joined the Blackstone Group as an adviser for the its deals in the energy sector.
General Clark will also serve as a director of Fisterra, a company formed by Blackstone and a management team led by Pedro Barriuso, a former executive chairman of Element Power. Fisterra focuses on developing and running power projects in Latin America, Europe nd the Middle East.
Lars Thunell, a former head of the World Bank‘s financing arm, will also join Blackstone as an adviser and Fisterra as a director.
General Clark is the second former Army general to join a private equity firm in as many months. Last month, David H. Petraeus, a retired four-star general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was hired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to lead its KKR Global Institute.
Since retiring from the Army and briefly running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, General Clark has turned to business matters. He founded a consulting firm, Wesley K. Clark & Associates, that advises clients in a number of areas, including energy.
He is also a co-chairman of Growth Energy, a lobbyist group representing the American ethanol industry, and a director of BNK Petroleum, an independent oil exploration company.
“Helping countries overcometheir energy challenges and develop energy security is critical to economic growth and sustainable development,†General Clark said in a statement. “I am pleased to join Fisterra’s board of directors and look forward to supporting the team as they work to accomplish their goals.â€
