Charlotte business leader Malcomb Coley objected sharply to questions about his ties to Raki McGregor’s family, after a reporter asked about Coley’s role as an adviser to McGregor’s son’s transportation company. Coley, a former managing partner of Ernst & Young and former chair of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, is listed alongside former Bank of America chief executive Hugh McColl Jr. as an adviser to Charlotte Immaculate, a luxury transportation business founded by McGregor’s son. Asked about the relationship, Coley declined to answer and criticized the reporter, saying: “Tell me your parents didn’t invest in your education and waste their money so you could ask asinine questions. I want you to print that.” He added that he would put his community reputation “against yours any day.” The questions come as state and federal investigations examine Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ finances and contracting. McGregor, a former Novant Health executive, became an adviser to CMS leadership in 2022 through an executive-in-residence program run by the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council. Public records show a Raleigh law firm paid him $30,000 a month. His wife’s company also had contracts with CMS and Mecklenburg County, raising scrutiny of the arrangement. Coley is a member of the leadership council, whose members include executives from major regional and national companies. He also serves on boards including Foundation for the Carolinas, UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business and Queens University of Charlotte. Coley is managing partner of Bright Hope Capital and executive director of operations at R.J. Leeper Construction, which Bright Hope owns. Leeper has worked with CMS for decades and is part of a joint venture overseeing the district’s school construction program, including projects supported by the $2.5 billion bond referendum voters approved in 2023. The disclosed business and civic connections do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing. They do underscore the public interest in understanding how McGregor gained influence inside the district and how CMS manages contracting while investigations continue.