Mitt Romney Cash Invested With GOP Whale

Aug. 16, 2011 — -- Amidst the millions of dollars worth of blue chip stocks, precious metals and high yield Goldman Sachs holdings listed on GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney's financial disclosure forms is a $1 million-plus investment in a hedge fund called Elliott Associates, LP.

While the investment is unlikely to provoke much reaction on Wall Street, the name is instantly recognizable in Republican political circles as that of the multi-billion-dollar hedge fund run by one of the most sought after, undecided GOP donors in the United States -- Paul Singer.

"He's an immensely powerful person given his stature in the financial world and politics, given that he has been willing time and again to put his money behind candidates," said Sheila Krumholz, who tracks campaign money for the Center for Responsive Politics.

The decision to invest a hefty chunk of Romney's vast fortune with a top GOP mega-donor may have had nothing to do with Romney's courtship of Singer as a potential donor to his presidential campaign. Romney aides note that the candidate's investments are held in a blind trust and the candidate has no say over where the money landed.

"Governor and Mrs. Romney's assets are managed on a blind basis," said Gail Gitcho, a Romney spokeswoman. "They do not control the investment of these assets. The assets are under the control and overall management of a trustee."

Still, the timing of the investment has raised eyebrows among GOP insiders who believe it nicely illustrates one rarely-considered advantage to being the wealthiest candidate in the presidential field.

"He's got assets, literally, that others can't use," Krumholz told ABC News. "The ability to do business at high levels with folks who might be useful to his campaign is an enormous advantage."

Romney's investment in Elliott Associates occurred sometime in the past four years. When Romney last had to make his finances public through a financial disclosure form for his 2008 presidential candidacy, he did not have a stake in Elliott Associates. Back then, Singer was serving in the inner circle of Romney rival Rudy Giuliani, providing the former New York Mayor with use of his private jet and a pledge to raise more than $500,000 for the candidate.