Duke Buchan

Duke Buchan
United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra
Assumed office
January 18, 2018
President Donald Trump
Preceded by James Costos
Personal details
Born Richard Duke Buchan III
(1963-07-03) July 3, 1963
Henderson, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Hannah Buchan
Alma mater University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation Entrepreneur
investor

Richard Duke Buchan III (born July 3, 1963)[1] is the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. He was sworn in by Vice President Michael Pence on December 11, 2017.[2] Buchan is an American entrepreneur, financier, farmer, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Hunter Global Investors,[3] a private investment management firm.[4][5]

Early life and education

Buchan grew up near Henderson, North Carolina[6] on his family’s tobacco and cattle farms.[7][8] He received a BA in economics and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) in 1985, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1991.[9]

At UNC-CH, Buchan was enrolled in the university’s study abroad program[9] at the University of Seville, Spain,[3] from 1983 to 1984[2] and also studied at the University of Valencia[6] in 1980.[2] Buchan later commented on his studies in Spain: "The study of the Spanish language, literature and cultures provided me a passport to a world outside the U.S. and instilled in me a global perspective."[9]

Career

In the early 1990s, Buchan started his investment banking career. From 1992 to 1997, he was a Vice President[10] at Merrill Lynch.[3] There he specialized in corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector[11] in Latin America,[3] the United States and Europe.[11]

After working at several financial firms,[11] Buchan in 2001 founded Hunter Global Investors.[3] In 2007, Hunter had approximately US$ 1.5 billion assets under management.[8] After beating U.S. stocks by 46 percent between 2001 and March 2011,[12] Buchan closed one of his funds in December 2011[13] due to losses stemming from the European debt crisis,[3] and returned money to investors.[12] He converted Hunter Global Investors into a family office to manage his family's assets,[14] and continues to manage two funds.[3]

Philanthropy

The Buchan Excellence Fund

In 2011, Buchan established The Buchan Excellence Fund in UNC-CH's Department of Romance Languages and Literature, "the largest single endowment at Carolina dedicated to support faculty, graduate students and undergraduates in Spanish languages, literature and culture." The fund has helped students and professors further their research on topics in Spanish culture and linguistics, and also enabled them to travel to Spain as well as other Spanish-speaking countries.[9]

In 2012, The Buchan Excellence Fund supported the UNC-CH Department of Romance Languages and Literature’s project 21st Century Pen Pals, a video exchange program between American and Spanish schoolchildren.[15]

UNC-CH and Harvard Business School

In December 2016, Buchan House, the new Arts and Sciences Foundation building at UNC-CH, opened after Buchan donated the money to purchase and renovate the old Chapel Hill Public Library to serve as the foundation’s new headquarters.

Buchan is Vice Chair of the UNC-CH Arts and Sciences Foundation Board of Trustees, a member of the Chancellor's Philanthropic Council, and served on the University’s Campaign Planning Cabinet.[6]

He has also supported Harvard Business School fundraising.[16]

Politics

After first supporting former Governor Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, and serving on the executive committee of Bush's Right to Rise PAC, Buchan and his wife Hannah became early financial supporters of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Buchan accompanied Trump to rallies, the Republican National Convention, and all three presidential debates. On the day of his inauguration, the Buchans went to church with Trump and his family, and sat near Trump as he was sworn-in as president.[3]

Buchan is a Republican National Committee Presidential Trustee and served as a RNC State Victory Chair for both New York and Florida.[17] In 2015 and 2016, Buchan also contributed to Paul Ryan, John McCain and Marco Rubio, among others.[18]

Personal life

Buchan and his wife Hannah have three children. The family owns and manages a farm that grows over 60 varieties of organic vegetables.[6] He also owns a horse farm near the Mashomack Polo Club that Buchan and his wife frequented, and a home in Palm Beach, Florida.[3] In 2012 Buchan owned an apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.[19]

In addition to English, Buchan speaks Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Catalan.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Richard Duke Buchan III". Florida Resident Database. March 17, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Richard Duke Buchan III". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Thomas Jr., Landon (February 2, 2017). "An Early Trump Backer Awaits His Reward". The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Home". Hunter Global Investors. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Trump names campaign donor to be US ambassador to Spain". The Washington Post. August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Moorefield, Mary (December 16, 2016). "Arts and Sciences Foundation dedicates Buchan House". College of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ Senior Officials' Biographies. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/277382.htm
  8. 1 2 Peltz, Lois (May 2007). "Strategy Focus" (PDF). infovest21. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Helton, Del (September 24, 2012). "Carolina y el Espanol: Small town dream, big global impact". College of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Duke Buchan". Zoom Information. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 "Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings. June 21, 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Volatility confounds Wall Street traders". Financial Post. December 15, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Hunter To Close Following Drawdown | Finalternatives". www.finalternatives.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Duke Buchan III". Hunter Global Investors. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  15. ↑ Cusick, Claire (2012). "Buchan Fund fosters Spanish fluency among UNC students and cultural exchange among those even younger". The University of North Carolina. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Experience of a Lifetime". May 1, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  17. ↑ Gass, Nick (July 1, 2016). "Trump, RNC expand fundraising operation". Politico. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Donor Lookup". Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  19. ↑ Street, All rights reserved © 2017 The Real Deal is a registered Trademark of Korangy Publishing Inc 450 West 31st; York, New (January 19, 2012). "Hedge funder tries $13M mark-up on UES co-op". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved June 26, 2017.

Media related to Duke Buchan at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.