It's not a secret that nearly all Olympics host cities lose money are are in debt for years! See Madrid and the Rio for clear examples. Salt Lake City ("SLC") was headed in that direction projected to lose $379 mil and that was a very liberal estimate. They tapped Romney at the last minute. There goal for him was make the losses as little as possible! LOL sounds just like a true government plan. However, Romney wasn't satisfied with such low expectations. He wanted to buck the trend of host cities losing money and that is exactly what he did. In the end he look the SLC Olympics from the red to the black to the tune of $100 mil in profit!!! Not too shabby!!!
In Games, a showcase for future races - The Boston Globe
"Before Romney came on, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. Plans were being made to scale back the Games to compensate for the fiscal crisis, and there were fears the Games might be moved away entirely. The Games had also been damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including prior Salt Lake Olympic Committee president and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and committee vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.
Romney ran the planning for the Games like a business. He revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets, and boosted fundraising, alleviated the concerns of corporate sponsors and recruited many new ones. Overall, he oversaw a $1.32 billion budget, 700 employees, and 26,000 volunteers.
Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million."
In Games, a showcase for future races - The Boston Globe
"Before Romney came on, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. Plans were being made to scale back the Games to compensate for the fiscal crisis, and there were fears the Games might be moved away entirely. The Games had also been damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including prior Salt Lake Olympic Committee president and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and committee vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.
Romney ran the planning for the Games like a business. He revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets, and boosted fundraising, alleviated the concerns of corporate sponsors and recruited many new ones. Overall, he oversaw a $1.32 billion budget, 700 employees, and 26,000 volunteers.
Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million."