Harris' Wall Street allies strategize on private call, Rubin, Lasry, Wolf among them

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U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives to boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S. on July 24, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris' allies on Wall Street huddled on a private Zoom call Wednesday to strategize how to defeat former President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. The call featured dozens of major financiers backing Harris, and lasted over an hour. They include Avenue Capital CEO Marc Lasry, Centerview Partners co-founder Blair Effron, Lazard President Ray McGuire, former Treasury Secretary and veteran banking executive Robert Rubin, businessman Tony Coles, Paul, Weiss chairman Brad Karp, founder of 32 Advisors Robert Wolf, longtime asset manager Brian Mathis and Jon Henes, the CEO of C Street Advisory Group, according to these people. Those who spoke to CNBC did so anonymously in order to speak freely about private matters. CNBC was first to report on the scheduled call Tuesday morning. People on the call said it was the first gathering that had brought all of these major players together in finance and business since President Joe Biden dropped out the race. The goal was to start organizing a large scale fundraising effort in support of Harris' campaign. "We need to raise a ton of money," said someone on the call, describing the first portion of the conversation. Rufus Gifford, the finance chair for the Harris campaign, fielded questions and comments on the call, while encouraging people to give and help raise money for the campaign, according to people familiar with the event.