Spitzer & Cherkasky

http://www.forbes.com/management/2004/10/25/cz_nw_1025spitzer.html

Mike Cherkasky, the new CEO of Marsh & McLennan, gave $12,000 to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer earlier this year, even though he was not running for office, according to www.Followthemoney.org. The contribution was one of four Cherkasky has given to Spitzer since 1998 for a total of $18,500, according to the site.

He [Cherkasky] also confirmed that he and Spitzer are good friends, they play tennis together and that Spitzer contributed "a few thousand dollars" to Cherkasky's 1993 campaign for Westchster County, N.Y., district attorney.

"Eliot considers Cherkasky to be a friend and a mentor," said Marc Violette, a spokesman in Spitzer's Albany office. "They have a long-standing relationship. It's not unusual in that context for Cherkasky to contribute to Eliot's campaign." The relationship between the two men goes back to the 1980s, when Cherkasky served as Spitzer's boss in the Manhattan district attorney's office. He has since referred to Spitzer as one of the most capable prosecutors he has ever worked with, and the two men are close friends, according to a source familiar with their relationship.