Chris Liddell

For the English cricket player, see Chris Liddle.

Christopher Pell Liddell CNZM (born 24 April 1958) is a New Zealand-American businessperson who served as Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft,^[3][4] the Vice Chairman of General Motors,^[3][4] Senior Vice President and CFO of International Paper, Director and Chairman of Xero^[5] and the White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Trump Administration.

Chris Liddell CNZM
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination
In office 19 March 2018 – 20 January 2021
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Rick Dearborn (Policy)
Succeeded by	Jen O'Malley Dillon Bruce Reed
Personal details
Born	Christopher Pell Liddell (1958-04-24) 24 April 1958 (age 65) Matamata, New Zealand
Citizenship	United States^[1] New Zealand^[2]
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Renee Harbers Liddell (m. 2011)
Education	University of Auckland (BE) Worcester College, Oxford (MPhil)

Liddell has been active in a number of philanthropic projects, mostly in his native New Zealand and in the 2016 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.^[6][7]

Biography

Liddell was born in Matamata, New Zealand, the youngest of five siblings. His father was a school teacher and died while Liddell was young. His mother supported Liddell and his siblings by working a variety of jobs, including at Smith & Caughey's in Auckland.^[4] Liddell received his secondary education at Mount Albert Grammar School.^[4] He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree with honors from the University of Auckland and a Master of Philosophy degree from Worcester College, Oxford University. He was named one of Auckland University's Distinguished Alumni in 2003.^[8]

Family

He has been married to Renee Harbers Liddell, since 2011.^[9]

Career

Corporate

In 1983, Liddell took up a position at investment bank Jarden & Co which would morph into Credit Suisse First Boston's operation in New Zealand and finally Jarden today. He rose to the role of joint-CEO and managing director of CS First Boston NZ.^[3]

In 1995, he joined Carter Holt Harvey as chief financial officer. Four years later he was chief executive officer - the first New Zealander to be appointed by majority shareholder International Paper, which had previously sent Americans David Oskin and John Faraci down to head the company.^[10][11] When Liddell left Carter Holt Harvey, the company was New Zealand's largest forest owner managing around 330,000 hectares and the country's second largest listed company by market capitalization, with sales of NZ$3.75 billion.^[12]

From 2003, Liddell served as CFO of Carter Holt Harvey's parent company International Paper until 2005.^[13]

Liddell was a senior vice president and CFO of Microsoft, where, from 2005 to December 2009,^[14][15] he was responsible for leading their worldwide finance organization.^[16] He oversaw Microsoft's acquisition strategy and helped to transform the company by tripling the rate of acquisitions. Under his leadership, Microsoft completed nearly 50 deals in just three years, ranging from small technology firms to the $6 billion acquisition of digital advertising firm aQuantive.^[17]

In 2007, he was ranked among the best CFO’s within the software sector globally by Institutional Investor and then in 2010, he was named the New Zealand Business Leader of the Year by the New Zealand Herald.^[18][19]

Liddell served as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer at General Motors, where he managed the company’s $23 billion IPO in November 2010, which, at that time, which was the largest public offering in history. Chris was a major contributor during a pivotal time in the company’s history," said Daniel Akerson, former GM chairman and CEO. In 2010, GM posted a full-year profit that was its first since 2004 and its largest since 1999.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

In 2014, Xero, the cloud-based accounting software developer appointed Liddell as its new chairman. Xero's chief executive and founder Rod Drury said Liddell’s contribution had seen the New Zealand-founded company’s annualized committed monthly revenue (ACMR) triple during his tenure, stating “Chris leaves us in a good position with strong global revenue growth.” Liddell resigned from the New Zealand-based company to take on a new role in United States president-elect Donald Trump's administration.^[25]

From 2014 to 2016, he worked as the CFO of Endeavor, a privately held company in the media, sports and entertainment industry.^[26]

Government

In 2012, Liddell was executive director of transition planning for the Romney Presidential Campaign and helped author The Romney Readiness Project, a comprehensive presidential transition guide. In 2013, Romney Readiness Project 2012: Retrospectives and Lessons Learned was published. In the foreword, Romney wrote, "My campaign was not successful but our Readiness Project team was."^[27][28]

Liddell advocates for a new approach to presidential transitions called the "Five-Year Presidency." He suggests that presidential candidates should view their term not just as a constitutional four-year term, but as a five-year journey that launches at least a year before the election. Liddell proposes that candidates should focus on key tasks during this "Year Zero" to set themselves up for success, such as assembling a leadership team and preparing for crises.^[29]

In January 2017, he was appointed as Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives in Donald Trump's White House,^[30][31][32] He was appointed to the Office of American Innovation (OAI) when it was established on 27 March 2017, where he was focusing on federal IT modernization. He opted to receive the minimum salary required to get health insurance, $30,000.^[33] He was also appointed Director of the American Technology Council ^[34] and was a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. In March 2018 he was picked to replace Rick Dearborn as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.^[1] In his White House roles he has coordinated administration policy around a number of technology issues, in particular relating to cyber security, and to the Industries of the Future, which include Artificial Intelligence, 5G, Advanced Manufacturing, Quantum Computing and Synthetic Biology.^[35]

He served as the White House lead for the Trillion Trees Initiative, part of the Trillion Tree Campaign, which aims to conserve, restore, and grow a trillion trees around the world by 2030. President Trump signed an Executive Order "Establishing the One Trillion Trees Interagency Council" in October 2020.^[36] Liddell oversaw the Administration's contribution, and represented the White House during its engagements with 1t.org and the 1t.org Stakeholder Council.^[37][38]

In October 2020 he was nominated by Donald Trump to be the next Secretary-General of the OECD.^[39][40][41] On 20 January 2021, the OECD confirmed that Liddell had withdrawn his nomination to serve as the Secretary-General of the OECD.^[42][43]

New Zealand's government did not make a decision to support the nomination. The left-wing Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand said he should be rejected as his work for Trump had eroded multilateral approaches in the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization. The right-wing New Zealand National Party said it would be in New Zealand's interest to have a "boy from Matamata" in the role, but later reversed their support for Liddell.^[44][45][46]

Prior to the 2021 inauguration Liddell called for legislation that "allows a provisional ascertainment to occur so that an incoming administration [and] the president-elect can get security briefings for a lot of the time-sensitive issues regardless of whether the formal election has been settled or not."^[47]

Liddell reportedly considered resigning after the January 6 United States Capitol attack in Washington D.C., but announced he would stay on to ensure a smooth transition to President elect Joe Biden. Liddell had a key role in the transition.^[48][49]

David Marchick elaborated on Liddell’s role in the tumult of the translation in his book The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions, noting that while Presidential transitions are incredibly complicated endeavors in the best of circumstances, Liddell had ”kept order, done heroic work in an impossible environment.” ^[50][51]

Author, documentary filmmaker, and White House historian Chris Whipple, in a preview chapter on the transition from his book on the Biden White House, The Fight of His Life, published in Vanity Fair, said that Liddell “helped make the transfer of power possible, becoming an unlikely leader of a plot to save democracy.”^[52]

Liddell's book, Year Zero: The Five-Year Presidency, explores the crucial elements of building and operating an effective White House, emphasizing its pivotal role in the success of a presidency and the democratic process in the United States. Drawing on his experience as the former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Liddell provides a strategic framework for a strong presidency. The book, published by the University of Virginia Press, offers concrete, nonpartisan steps to improve White House functionality and rebuild trust in this fundamental institution.^[53][54][55]

In the Time essay How Rocky Presidential Transitions Put America at Risk, Liddell explores the national security risks inherent in political transitions. Liddell draws attention to historical examples and underscores the need for proactive planning by presidential candidates. He advocates for early submission of national security team nominees and emphasizes the importance of cooperation between outgoing and incoming teams to effectively address potential crises.^[56]

Affiliations

Liddell is founding chairman of the Next Foundation,^[57] a NZD $100 million dollar foundation in New Zealand focused on environmental and education projects.^[58][59] Next has funded projects such as Project Taranaki Mounga,^[60] a ten-year project to control pests and re-introduce nature birds in the 34,000 ha of Egmont National Park, and Predator Free Wellington City, a partnership to make Wellington the first predator free capital in the world. Liddell was a signatory to the Tomorrow Accord, an agreement between the New Zealand government and NEXT to focus on large scale ecological restoration projects, and commit to maintaining their ecological benefits in perpetuity.^[61]

In 2001, Liddell was on the conference committee for the Catching the Knowledge Wave project, one of the biggest meeting of minds to take place in New Zealand history. The conference hosted about 450 academics, officials, politicians, economists and business leaders who discussed ways of lifting New Zealand’s economic performance. Led by the New Zealand Prime Minister and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland, it was a catalyst for the realization that New Zealand could no longer remain primarily a producer of agricultural commodities but instead transform itself to a high-value, knowledge-based economy.^[62][63]

In 2006, he was a recipient of the Kea World Class New Zealand Award.^[64]

In 2008, Liddell was patron of the University of Auckland’s inaugural Leading the Way fundraising campaign. The campaign sought to raise NZD $100 million to support teaching, research and community service activities and eventually achieved NZD $120 million in philanthropic support.^[65][66]

He was chairman of Project Crimson, a conservation group, and was active in a number of environmental projects in New Zealand, such as the restoration of Rotoroa Island and the Abel Tasman National Park.^[67] Liddell was a founding trustee of Pure Advantage, a registered New Zealand charity, which supports a broad range of sustainability, regenerative and green growth-focused research activities.^[68]

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.^[69]

In 2017, Liddell and his brother, John, donated $1 million to Mount Albert Grammar primarily to fund teacher and pupil scholarships.^[9] Later that year, Liddell donated $450,000 to Auckland University to fund a postgraduate scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford.^[70]

In 2021, Liddell joined the Blavatnik School of Government on a Transformational Leadership Fellowship.^[71] In 2022, Karthik Ramanna and Liddell raised philanthropic funding to help drive further carbon accounting pilots of the E-liability accounting method, resulting in the creation of the E-liability Institute, where Liddell serves as Chairman.^[72][73]

Liddell has served as trustee of the New Zealand Sports Foundation and as a director of the New Zealand Rugby Union.^[74] He was the driving force behind the purchase of Peter Snell's 1964 Tokyo Olympics running singlet for Te Papa Museum.^[75] He spearheaded and funded a campaign to assemble and publicly display the most important All Black jerseys in the team's 120-year history.^[76]

References

1. Restuccia, Andrew; Johnson, Eliana (19 March 2018). "Kelly taps Kushner ally Chris Liddell as deputy chief for policy". Politico.
2. "Chris Liddell, Trump's NZ-born deputy chief of staff, considering resigning — report". TVNZ. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
3. Lublin, John D. Stoll And Joann S. (22 December 2009). "GM Taps Microsoft's Finance Chief". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
4. Read, Ellen (23 January 2017). "Trump's Kiwi man of mystery Donald Trump's assistant Chris Liddell 'driven and very smart'". The Press. p. A9. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
5. "Chris Liddell resigns as Xero chairman after Donald Trump administration appointment". www.stuff.co.nz. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
6. "New Year Honours 2016 - Citations for Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
7. "New Year Honours: Chris Liddell - A proud Kiwi made good". www.nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
8. "Past winners - The University of Auckland". www.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
9. Fonseka, Dileepa (1 April 2018). "His father left them penniless; Chris Liddell tells of his path to White House power". Stuff. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
10. "Chris Liddell: innovative man is an impatient competitor". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
11. "New CEO to lead Carter Holt Harvey". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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14. "Microsoft Names Chris Liddell as New Chief Financial Officer". www.news.microsoft.com. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
15. Letzing, John (24 November 2009). "Microsoft CFO Liddell to leave the company". www. marketwatch.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
16. "Chris Liddell Named GM Vice Chairman and CFO". www.media.gm.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
17. "CFO brings philosophy of change to Microsoft". Reuters. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
18. "The Best CFOs (Expanded Edition)". Institutional Investor. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
19. Dann, Liam (11 December 2010). "Business Leader of the Year 2010: Chris Liddell". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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26. Littleton, Cynthia (30 July 2014). "WME/IMG Names Corporate Vet CFO as Agency Faces Post-Merger Scrutiny". Variety. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
27. The Romney Readiness Project (2012). The Romney Readiness Project: A Retrospective & Lessons Learned. Independently published. ISBN 978-0615799865.
28. "NZ's Chris Liddell reveals extent of Romney role - and refuses to join doom merchants". The National Business Review. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
29. Liddell, Chris (Spring 2023). "The Five-Year Presidency". National Affairs (55 ed.). Retrieved 27 March 2023.
30. "Kiwi businessman Chris Liddell appointed as one of Donald Trump's assistants". New Zealand Herald. 18 January 2017. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
31. O'Sullivan, Fran. "Kiwi businessman Chris Liddell appointed as Donald Trump's assistant". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
32. Bindrim, Kira (1 July 2017). "All of Donald Trump's White House staffers, ranked by salary". Quartz. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
33. Scola, Nancy (1 July 2017). "What Jared's office actually does". Politico. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
34. "Establishment of the American Technology Council". Federal Register. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
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36. "President Trump Signs One Trillion Trees Executive Order, Promoting Conservation and Regeneration of Our Nation's Forests". whitehouse.gov. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020 – via National Archives.
37. Allen, Mike (11 May 2020). "Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to lead White House's "1 Trillion Trees" initiative". Axios. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
38. Smith, Abby (13 October 2020). "Trump signs order backing 1 Trillion Trees effort". www.washingtonexaminer.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
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42. Hunt, Elle (20 January 2021). "New Zealand Trump aide Chris Liddell pulls out of race to lead OECD". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
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51. Marchick, David (7 October 2022). "The Trump Official Who Did The Right Thing". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
52. Whipple, Chris (12 October 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE S--TSHOW THAT WAS THE TRUMP-BIDEN TRANSITION". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
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54. The Five-Year Presidency (2023). Year Zero. The University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0813951133.
55. "'Year Zero' Review: Presetting the Presidency". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
56. "How Rocky Presidential Transitions Put America at Risk". www.time.com. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
57. "About Us". www.nextfoundation.org.nz. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
58. "$100m 'Next Foundation' launched". New Zealand Herald. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
59. "XE Currency Table: NZD - New Zealand Dollar". www.xe.com.
60. "Project Taranaki Mounga NEXT big project". doc.govt.nz. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
61. "Minister of Conservation and NEXT Foundation sign Tomorrow Accord". www.nextfoundation.org.nz. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
62. "2001 – Knowledge Wave conference". www.auckland.ac.nz. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
63. "Committee Represents Broad Cross Section Of NZ". www.scoop.co.nz. 31 May 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
64. "World Class Network". KEA New Zealand. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
65. "UniNews Issue 22" (PDF). University of Auckland. 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
66. "University Donors Give $120 Million for Research". Scoop News. Scoop Media. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
67. "Biography of Christopher Liddell" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
68. "Trustee Biographies" (PDF). Pure Advantage. July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
69. . Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
70. [e-mail] @OBuckleton, Ophelia Buckleton Reporter, NZ Herald (24 November 2017). "Trump's Kiwi adviser Chris Liddell donates $450,000 to Auckland University" – via www.nzherald.co.nz.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
71. "Transformational Leadership Fellowships". bsg. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
72. "KARTHIK RAMANNA LAUNCHES E-LIABILITY INSTITUTE TO ENCOURAGE RIGOROUS CARBON ACCOUNTING WORLDWIDE". bsg. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
73. "About E-liability and the Institute". E-liability. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
74. "Kiwi businessman Chris Liddell named as assistant to Donald Trump". Stuff. Stuff Limited. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
75. "New Year Honours: Chris Liddell - A proud Kiwi made good". New Zealand Herald. 31 December 2015. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
76. "Kiwi achiever Chris Liddell proves trump card in the great All Blacks jersey quest". Stuff. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Rick Dearborn	White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy 2018–2021	Succeeded by Jen O'Malley Dillon Bruce Reed