Duke Buchan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Duke Buchan
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Official portrait, 2015
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| United States Ambassador to Morocco | |
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Nominee
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| Assuming office TBD |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | Puneet Talwar |
| Finance Chair of the Republican National Committee | |
| In office January 31, 2022 – March 18, 2025 |
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| Preceded by | Todd Ricketts |
| Succeeded by | JD Vance |
| United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra | |
| In office January 18, 2018 – January 20, 2021 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | James Costos |
| Succeeded by | Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Duke Buchan III
July 3, 1963 Henderson, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Hannah Buchan |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Occupation | Financier, diplomat, farmer, philanthropist |
Richard Duke Buchan III, born on July 3, 1963, is an American businessman, diplomat, farmer, and someone who gives a lot to charity. He started his own investment company called Hunter Global Investors. He was the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2017 to 2021. After that, he became the finance chair for the Republican National Committee. In March 2025, Donald Trump nominated Buchan to be the United States ambassador to Morocco.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Duke Buchan grew up on his family's tobacco and cattle farms near Henderson, North Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and Spanish in 1985. He studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Later, he received a master's degree in business from Harvard Business School in 1991.
While at UNC-CH, Buchan studied abroad in Spain. He spent time at the University of Seville from 1983 to 1984. He also studied at the University of Valencia in 1980. He once said that learning Spanish helped him see the world differently. It gave him a "passport to a world outside the U.S."
Career in Finance
In the early 1990s, Buchan began his career in investment banking. From 1992 to 1997, he worked at Merrill Lynch. There, he focused on helping companies with their finances and buying other businesses. He worked with companies in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. In 1997, Buchan joined a large investment fund called Maverick Capital. He managed their investments in banks and financial companies.
In 2001, Buchan started his own company, Hunter Global Investors, in New York City. By 2007, his company managed about $1.5 billion for investors. He did very well, beating the U.S. stock market by 46 percent between 2001 and March 2011. In 2011, he closed one of his funds because of losses from the European debt crisis. He then turned Hunter Global Investors into a "family office." This means he now manages only his family's money. He still manages two funds that invest in different areas, including real estate. In 2024, Buchan and his wife Hannah built about 1,500 apartments in the South.
Diplomatic Service
On November 2, 2017, the United States Senate approved Buchan as ambassador. He became the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. He was sworn in on December 11, 2017. As ambassador, he worked to improve relations between the U.S. and Spain. In 2019, he helped update a tax agreement. This agreement stopped companies from being taxed twice when they worked in both countries.
Buchan also encouraged Spain to contribute more to NATO. He focused on issues like investment, taxes, and trade. He spoke out for democracy and human rights. He often criticized governments that were not democratic, especially in Venezuela and Cuba. In May 2019, Buchan joined a group of ambassadors on the annual March of the Living program. This program teaches about the Holocaust. In November 2019, he visited the border between Venezuela and Colombia. He wanted to show people the serious problems caused by the government of Nicolás Maduro. He wrote in a Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, about the suffering he saw. He met with Venezuelan leader Juan Guaidó in Madrid. He told Guaidó that the U.S. strongly supported Venezuela's National Assembly.
Political Involvement
Buchan has been a leader for the Republican National Committee in New York and Florida. He has given a lot of money to Republican groups and politicians. These include the Republican National Committee and senators like Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. In 2016, he first supported Jeb Bush for president. Later, he and his wife Hannah became early supporters of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. They were among the first to donate $1 million to Trump's 2016 campaign. They have continued to donate and raise millions more. In November 2021, Buchan was chosen as the finance chair for the Republican National Committee.
Charitable Work
In 2011, Buchan created The Buchan Excellence Fund at UNC-CH. This fund supports students and professors studying Spanish language, literature, and culture. It is the largest fund of its kind at the university. The fund helps students and teachers research Spanish culture and language. It also helps them travel to Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.
In 2012, the fund supported a project called 21st Century Pen Pals. This program connected American and Spanish schoolchildren through video exchanges. In December 2016, a new building at UNC-CH opened, called Buchan House. Buchan donated money to buy and fix up the old Chapel Hill Public Library. This building now serves as the headquarters for the Arts and Sciences Foundation.
Buchan has also supported fundraising efforts for Harvard Business School.
Personal Life
Duke Buchan and his wife Hannah have three children. He owns farms in North Carolina and New York. On his farms, he grows truffles and over 100 types of tomatoes and vegetables. He also raises horses. The Buchans run a farm stand and create new kinds of tomatoes. They donate their produce to charities. Buchan lives mainly in Palm Beach, Florida. He also has a horse farm in Upstate New York and an apartment in New York City.
Buchan speaks Spanish very well. He can also have conversations in French. He knows some Italian, German, and Catalan.
See also
In Spanish: Duke Buchan para niños
