Bill McGlashan, co-founder and managing partner at TPG Growth, has resigned from his post at TPG and The Rise Fund, he wrote in an email to board members on Thursday.
McGlashan’s departure comes after he was arrested in connection in a nationwide college admissions cheating case. TPG placed McGlashan on administrative leave on Tuesday.
McGlashan was one of 46 people arrested, including former “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman and “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin, as part of an on-going FBI investigation code-named “Operation Varsity Blues.”
On Wednesday, STX CEO Robert Simmonds sent an email to staff announcing that McGlashan would step down from the company’s board of directors. He and Simmonds co-founded the entertainment company in 2014.
According to prosecutors, McGlashan spent $250,000 on illegal schemes to get his son admitted to college — including hiring a proctor to improve his son’s answers on the ACT test before they were submitted and “conspiring to bribe” USC senior associate athletic director Donna Heimel “to facilitate his son’s admission to USC as a recruited athlete.” He even created a fake profile of his lacrosse-playing son as a football kicker as part of the scheme, court documents say.
McGlashan co-founded and served as CEO of The Rise Fund, a social impact fund he set up with Bono and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll.
The suspects in the college admissions case have been charged with paying bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into top universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC, according to charging documents.
During a press conference in Boston on Tuesday, Andrew Lelling, U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts said this was the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” which totaled $25 million in bribes.
The scandal is centered around a California man, William Singer, who ran a business to help students gain admission into the college of their choice. This would involve being paid a pre-set amount by parents, who then funneled the money to either an SAT or ACT administrator or a college athletic coach. The scheme would work in one of two ways, according to prosecutors: The coaches would arrange a fake profile that listed the prospective student as an athlete or exam administrators would either hire proctors to take the test or correct the answers of a student after the fact.
Read McGlashan’s email announcing his resignation below:
My Dear Board Members:
Though it breaks my heart to write this, I feel it is now the right thing to resign from The Rise Fund and TPG Growth. The progress we have made is too important for you to be distracted by the issues I am facing personally. The work The Rise Fund is doing is critically important to the world. By stepping down, I hope that The Rise Fund and TPG Growth will be best set to continue their mission. The Rise Fund and TPG Growth are obviously much bigger than any single individual, and it is important you continue building incredible companies that deliver great returns and impact. I am deeply sorry this very difficult situation may interfere with the work to which I have devoted my life.
As you can imagine, my primary concern at this point is for my family. I will also be focused on addressing the allegations that have been presented, and there are aspects of the story that have yet to emerge that I wish I could share. It is essential however that this process happens apart from The Rise Fund and TPG Growth.
It has been an absolute honor to work with all of you, and I am deeply grateful for the unique privilege I have had to start this work with you. I hope with all my heart for your great continued impact. I am going to focus on my family and comprehensively addressing the allegations, but I wish you all great success.
With my best regards and love,
Bill