Alaska Permanent Fund trustee Ellie Rubenstein resigns after email leak

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. trustee Ellie Rubenstein said Wednesday that she is resigning, following leaked emails in April that raised concerns about her ethical conduct.

Internal staff emails were shared with political website the Alaska Landmine that alleged conflicts of interest about Rubenstein and meetings she set up between Permanent Fund staff and business associates or companies with ties to a company she owns. Rubenstein has denied wrongdoing.

Rubenstein was appointed to the board by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2022. She is the daughter of billionaire David Rubenstein, co-chairman of the board of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest investment firms, and Alice Rogoff, the former owner of the Anchorage Daily News, then called Alaska Dispatch News. Rubenstein co-founded Manna Tree, a Colorado-based private equity company.

Her resignation is effective Aug. 1.

Jason Brune, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, was also elected board chair at Wednesday’s quarterly meeting of the board of trustees. Brune replaced as chair Ethan Schutt, whose recent reappointment had been in doubt.

Craig Richards, the longest-serving member of the board, was taken by surprise by Wednesday’s vote. He suggested the vote was held because Rubenstein was still on the board at this point, and a new trustee “might have changed the outcome.” He called Wednesday’s vote “a coup.”

“It’s exactly what it was, and I think it’s beneath the behavior of this board,” he said.

At the end of Wednesday’s quarterly meeting, Rubenstein said she has faced “internal tension” on the board by being labeled as “a professional investor.”

“I think there’s been many times where it’s been misconstrued, and I’m totally fine with that,” she said.

Chris Ullman, a spokesperson for Manna Tree, said by email that Rubenstein had resigned because “the scope and pace of change necessary to fully institutionalize” the Permanent Fund was not compatible with her work at the private equity firm.

Rubenstein said she never asked to be on the Permanent Fund board, and was surprised to be appointed by Dunleavy. She said that Manna Tree “didn’t ask to be part of something that became so public.” She also cited time pressures behind her resignation.

“I think that being on this board requires and deserves a ton of attention, focus, mental energy,” she said. “It’s a hat and a uniform you really put on, and you don’t take it off.”

Since April’s email leak, Rubenstein has headed the board’s governance committee, which has proposed measures to improve transparency for investment referrals made by trustees to staff.

The governor has sole authority to appoint trustees to the six-member Permanent Fund board. When asked if Dunleavy had chosen a replacement for Rubenstein, the governor’s office said an announcement would be made when Dunleavy appoints a new trustee.

“Governor Dunleavy thanks Ms. Rubenstein for her service on the APFC board and to the people of Alaska,” Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner said by email.

Rubenstein’s resignation was announced midway through the board’s quarterly meeting in Fairbanks. The board at an earlier meeting voted to investigate the source of the leaked emails. On Wednesday, trustees decided not to hire an outside investigator due to costs. Internal staff investigations are continuing, board members said.

Trustees voted Wednesday to revise the personnel handbook for staff. The revisions include a clear prohibition on disclosing confidential information related to “any sensitive, private, or proprietary information” at the corporation. Trustee Richards said the “devil is in the details” on how confidential is defined.

Voting on a new chair and vice chair

At the start of Wednesday’s meeting, board members elected a new chair and vice chair, following months of scrutiny surrounding the board and how it manages the $82 billion fund.

Brune was chosen as chair. Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum will serve as vice chair. Both were elected on a 4-2 vote.

Brune was appointed to the Permanent Fund’s board in August, weeks after he had stepped down as the state’s environmental commissioner. Crum has served as trustee since November 2022; state law requires the revenue commissioner to serve on the Permanent Fund board.

Richards, a former Alaska attorney general, said it was “highly irregular” to elect the board’s leadership positions outside of the annual meeting in September. Chris Poag, the Permanent Fund’s legal counsel, told trustees the board could vote on leadership positions again at September’s meeting.

Richards apologized for not noticing that “election of corporate officers” was on the agenda. He said he would have nominated Schutt to serve as chair again.

“I find myself figuring stuff out at a meeting that’s already been pre-decided, so I oppose it strongly,” he said about Wednesday’s vote.

Brune and Crum were elected as chair and vice chair after minimal debate. Yes votes included Crum, Rubenstein, Brune and Ryan Anderson, commissioner of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Schutt and Richards voted no. Richards said his vote was on procedural grounds.

Last year, a majority of trustees decided not to pursue a riskier investment strategy aimed at growing the fund to $100 billion. In May, the board voted 4-2 to defy the Legislature’s wishes by keeping an Anchorage Permanent Fund office open. Richards and Schutt voted no.