Cruz’s wife is taking an unpaid leave of absence to help with the campaign. Cruz rails against 'crony capitalism,' praises wife's Goldman Sachs career

Ted Cruz is sounding off against Wall Street and financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, where his wife, Heidi, works as a managing director in Houston.

Asked whether Goldman Sachs is a positive or negative force in society, the Texas senator and recently declared Republican presidential candidate told Bloomberg Politics on Tuesday that there’s a little bit of both.


“Goldman is one of the biggest banks on Wall Street, and my criticism with Washington is they engage in crony capitalism,” he said. “They give favors to Wall Street and Big Business, and that’s why I’ve been an outspoken opponent of crony capitalism, taking on leaders in both parties.”

The candidate said that like other firms, Goldman seeks out and receives favors from the government.

“I think they’re entitled to practice their business, but without subsidies or special benefits,” he told John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

Cruz mentioned the Dodd-Frank Act specifically, saying that it has failed on its promise to stop “too-big-to-fail” institutions from growing.

Goldman Sachs received $10 billion in taxpayer money from the Treasury following the 2008 financial crisis, repaying the funds with interest in less than a year.

“I am unabashedly proud of everything about Heidi,” Cruz said in response to a point that he did not mention his wife’s connection to Goldman Sachs during his announcement speech, noting that he did “mention the fact that she had an incredibly successful business career.”

Cruz’s wife is taking an unpaid leave of absence to help with the campaign.