New Year resolutions often involve weight loss, but Jeb Bush, who has already shed an estimated 15lbs since starting his run for the White House, has instead opted to jettison some heavy financial baggage.



As the clock struck midnight on Thursday, and with Mitt Romney’s failed 2012 campaign still ringing in many Republican ears, the former Florida governor’s team quietly announced that their candidate was resigning from a slew of corporate boards and private equity interests that could cast a shadow over his presidential bid in 2016.

Technically, Jeb Bush – son of President George Bush Sr and younger brother of President George W Bush – is still only “exploring” whether to seek the Republican nomination. But severing his many business ties means forgoing millions of dollars in consultancy earnings and is likely to prove almost as indicative of his determination to follow in family footsteps as did his announcement of a fundraising committee last month.

Disentangling the extensive business interests that Bush has built up since standing down as governor in 2007 has not been a simple exercise. His first major resignation – as an adviser to Barclays following its purchase of Lehman Brothers – was confirmed by the British bank three weeks ago, after questions were raised about whether it and other controversial relationships could prove his achilles heel.

He is also still reviewing what to do about some directly owned business interests such as the consulting firm Jeb Bush & Associates, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the latest news.

Various private equity investments in energy and aviation, made through a company called Britton Hill that is named after the highest point in Florida, were only disclosed last June. At the time, such investments were widely interpreted as a sign that Jeb might have decided to heed his mother Barbara’s advice that there had already been enough Bushes in the White House.

But the Republican establishment is anxious for a well-known candidate to challenge more radical rivals such as senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, and the Bush name is seen as the most reliable rallying point for wealthy donors and the business community after the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, was tarnished by a political scandal in 2014.

The purge of awkward legacies also indicates an appeal to conservative Republican voters in what is likely to be one of the most competitive primary races in years. Bush has relinquished his interests in Academic Partnerships, an education firm that serves of a reminder of his close involvement in school reforms that are loathed by many on the right.

Other board resignations recently disclosed in regulatory filings include Rayonier, which invests in forest land, and Tenet Healthcare, which reportedly profited from Barack Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms.

But Bush has so far been unapologetic about his support for what are seen by some in his party as Democratic causes, such as common education standards and immigration reform. He said on Wednesday that he would not be attending a conservative summit hosted by the Iowa congressman Steve King, which is traditionally seen as a vital first step on the Republican primary race.

He has also pledged greater transparency, including the publication of emails from his time as governor of Florida, although his spokeswoman did not respond to several calls and emails on Thursday about the corporate resignations and there was no mention of the decision on the Facebook page that his office used to announce his presidential plans.



Aides told the Post that the New Year business purge was about “making time” to explore these presidential interests and “part and parcel of a process he is going through as he transitions to focus on a potential run for president”. The decision was a “natural next step”, said his spokeswoman, Kristy Campbell, in separate confirmation to CNN, as Bush “turns his focus to gauging whether there is support for a potential candidacy”.

Bush has insisted that his private equity interests are not on the same scale as Romney’s history with Bain Capital, which proved an attractive target for Democrats during his fight against Obama in 2012, due its alleged asset-stripping and firing policies.



The other contenders

Among the likely Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential race, Jeb Bush may be the most advanced in his declared interest, but his rivals are not far behind.

“The more the merrier,” said the Kentucky senator Rand Paul when Bush first announced he was “exploring” a run in December, one of many indications that Paul’s participation in the contest is in as little doubt as that of his equally ambitious conservative colleague Ted Cruz.

The Florida senator Marco Rubio also announced in a New Year’s Day radio interview that he was “spending the holidays thinking about his future”.

The unusually early launch of team Bush was thought to be aimed partly at deterring other establishment competitors such as Rubio and the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, but their public prominence since and Mitt Romney’s strong performance in polling suggests it may have only spurred them on.

And with governors from Indiana’s Mike Pence to Rick Perry of Texas and Scott Walker of Wisconsin dropping similar hints in recent days, the easier question among top Republicans is who isn’t running?