Penny Pritzker, Obama's national campaign finance chair, reportedly is the frontrunner for commerce secretary. Pritzker is a businesswoman and billionaire heiress to the Hyatt hotel fortune. However, if tapped, the Chicago native might face questions about her massive financial holdings and business background. She was a former chair and holding company member of the Windy City's Superior Bank when it collapsed in 2001. As the Chicago Sun-Times reported in April, she had pushed to stimulate the bank's growth with subprime mortgage lending--a major ingredient in the financial crisis.
Because of her business history, other sources say a Pritzker appointment is unlikely.
UPDATE: It looks like that history has already led Pritzker to take herself out of the running.
--Seyward Darby