Chris Liddell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chris Liddell
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| White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination | |
| In office 19 March 2018 – 20 January 2021 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Rick Dearborn (Policy) |
| Succeeded by | Jen O'Malley Dillon Bruce Reed |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Christopher Pell Liddell
24 April 1958 Matamata, New Zealand |
| Citizenship | United States New Zealand |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Renee Harbers Liddell (m. 2011) |
| Education | University of Auckland (BE) Worcester College, Oxford (MPhil) |
Christopher Pell Liddell (born on April 24, 1958) is a successful businessperson from New Zealand and the United States. He has held important jobs in big companies like Microsoft and General Motors. He also worked in the White House for President Donald Trump.
Chris Liddell is known for his charity work, especially in his home country, New Zealand. In 2016, he received an award called the New Zealand Order of Merit. This award recognized his great contributions to business and helping others.
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About Chris Liddell
Chris Liddell was born in Matamata, New Zealand. He was the youngest of five children. His father passed away when Chris was young. His mother worked hard to support the family.
Chris went to Mount Albert Grammar School. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Auckland. He also has a Master of Philosophy degree from Worcester College, Oxford University. In 2003, he was recognized as one of Auckland University's outstanding former students.
Family Life
Chris Liddell married Renee Harbers Liddell in 2011.
Chris Liddell's Career
Chris Liddell has had a long and impressive career. He worked in both the business world and in government.
Working in Business
In 1983, Chris Liddell started working at an investment bank called Jarden & Co. This company later became part of Credit Suisse First Boston in New Zealand. He eventually became a joint-CEO and managing director there.
In 1995, he joined Carter Holt Harvey as their chief financial officer. Four years later, he became the chief executive officer. This made him the first New Zealander to lead the company. When he left, Carter Holt Harvey was New Zealand's largest forest owner. It was also the second-largest listed company in the country.
From 2003 to 2005, Liddell was the chief financial officer for International Paper. This was Carter Holt Harvey's main owner.
Leading Finance at Microsoft
From 2005 to 2009, Chris Liddell was the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft. He was in charge of all their financial operations worldwide. He also led Microsoft's strategy for buying other companies. Under his leadership, Microsoft bought nearly 50 companies in just three years. This included a big purchase of a digital advertising firm called aQuantive.
In 2007, he was named one of the best CFOs in the software industry. In 2010, the New Zealand Herald named him the New Zealand Business Leader of the Year.
Helping General Motors Recover
Chris Liddell also served as vice chairman and chief financial officer at General Motors. He managed the company's large public stock offering in 2010. This was one of the biggest stock offerings in history at that time.
Former GM chairman Daniel Akerson said Liddell was a "major contributor" during a key time for the company. In 2010, GM made a profit for the first time since 2004. It was their largest profit since 1999.
Chairman at Xero
In 2014, Xero, a company that makes cloud-based accounting software, appointed Liddell as its new chairman. Xero's founder, Rod Drury, said that during Liddell's time, the company's monthly revenue tripled. Liddell left Xero to take on a new role in the United States government.
From 2014 to 2016, he worked as the CFO of Endeavor. This is a private company in the media, sports, and entertainment business.
Working in Government
In 2012, Chris Liddell helped with the planning for the Romney Presidential Campaign. He helped write a guide for how a new president's team would take over.
Liddell believes that presidential candidates should plan for a "Five-Year Presidency." This means they should start preparing a year before the election. He suggests candidates should focus on tasks like building their team early.
Roles in the White House
In January 2017, he became an assistant to the president for strategic initiatives in Donald Trump's White House. He focused on making government technology more modern. He chose to receive a very small salary for this role.
He was also a director of the American Technology Council. He was a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. In March 2018, he became the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. In this role, he helped coordinate government policy on technology issues. This included cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, 5G, and Quantum Computing.
He led the White House's efforts for the Trillion Trees Initiative. This project aims to protect and grow a trillion trees globally by 2030. President Trump signed an order to create a council for this initiative in October 2020.
In October 2020, Donald Trump nominated him to be the next secretary-general of the OECD. However, on January 20, 2021, Liddell withdrew his nomination. New Zealand's government did not support his nomination.
Before the 2021 presidential inauguration, Liddell suggested new laws. These laws would allow a new president's team to get security briefings sooner. This would happen even if the election results were not fully settled.
Liddell considered leaving his job after the January 6 United States Capitol attack. However, he decided to stay to help with a smooth transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden. He played a key role in this transition.
Authors have praised Liddell's work during this challenging time. David Marchick said Liddell "kept order" and did "heroic work." Chris Whipple said Liddell "helped make the transfer of power possible."
Liddell wrote a book called Year Zero: The Five-Year Presidency. It talks about how to build an effective White House. The book shares his experiences and offers ways to improve how the White House works. It also aims to rebuild trust in this important institution.
He also wrote an essay called How Rocky Presidential Transitions Put America at Risk. In it, he discusses the dangers of difficult political transitions. He emphasizes the need for early planning by presidential candidates.
Other Activities and Awards
Chris Liddell is the founding chairman of the Next Foundation. This foundation has given NZD $100 million to environmental and education projects in New Zealand. For example, it has funded projects to control pests and bring back native birds.
In 2001, Liddell was part of the "Catching the Knowledge Wave" project. This meeting brought together many experts to discuss ways to improve New Zealand's economy. It helped New Zealand realize it needed to become a knowledge-based economy.
In 2006, he received the Kea World Class New Zealand Award.
In 2008, Liddell supported the University of Auckland's fundraising campaign. The campaign raised NZD $120 million for teaching, research, and community service.
He was chairman of Project Crimson, a conservation group. He also worked on environmental projects like restoring Rotoroa Island and the Abel Tasman National Park. He helped start Pure Advantage, a charity that supports green growth and sustainability.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2017, Chris and his brother, John, donated $1 million to Mount Albert Grammar. This money helped fund scholarships for teachers and students. Later that year, Liddell donated $450,000 to Auckland University. This funded a scholarship for postgraduate study at Worcester College, Oxford.
In 2021, Liddell joined the Blavatnik School of Government for a fellowship. In 2022, he helped create the E-liability Institute. This institute works on new ways to account for carbon emissions. Liddell is the chairman of this institute. He is also a visiting research fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford.
Liddell has also contributed to sports in New Zealand. He was a trustee of the New Zealand Sports Foundation. He was also a director of the New Zealand Rugby Union. He helped buy Peter Snell's 1964 Tokyo Olympics running shirt for Te Papa Museum. He also led a project to display important All Black rugby jerseys. In addition to his work, Liddell completed an Ironman triathlon in 1995.
