Chris Liddell consolidated his position inside the Trump White House in March.
The strategic adviser made a short-list of two to become President Donald Trump’s new chief economic adviser. He was pipped at the post for that position by Larry Kudlow but shortly afterwards Mr Liddell was named White House deputy chief-of-staff – a pivotal role in the day-to-day running of the oval office and keeping various factions in line.
No Kiwi has ever climbed higher up the greasy pole of US politics, and Mr Liddell is now notable for being one of the few members of Mr Trump’s inner circle who have survived since the presidential election.
Mr Liddell also faced an accusation from a lobby group called CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), which complained to White House lawyers the New Zealander had potentially broken conflict of interest laws by meeting officials of companies including Dell, Ford, Lockheed Martin and Tesla, in whom he still owned millions in shares.
The accusation attracted negative publicity for the New Zealander on CNN and other media outlets, but he had already begun the process of divesting all his stock before the meetings took place, and he was ultimately granted a waiver.
Mr Liddell dabbled in politics in the 1980s as a supporter of Bob Jones’ New Zealand Party as it became a vehicle for nudging National back to the right following the interventionist Muldoon era (ironically, Mr Trump has been compared to the iconic National leader of the late 1970s and early 1980s).
He first gained profile on the US political scene in 2012 as the head of Republican candidate Mitt Romney's White House transition team – a role that was ultimately redundant after the Republican lost to Barack Obama.
Entering the Trump White House involved an asset disclosure that listed Mr Liddell’s wealth at $US75-196 million or roughly $NZ105-280m. The Kiwi expatriate’s White House salary was also revealed as a token $US30,000 a year.
Among the myriad of income sources and investments listed in Liddell’s 118-page Executive Branch Personnel, Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e), is the Buffalo Jump Ranch in Montana. Described as a personal residence/direct investment, its value is put at between $US5-25m.
There is also a $US2.9 million salary/bonus package from his most recent employer, the privately owned global talent agency WME-IMG, where he has been chief financial officer since 2014. Also disclosed were 10 million management units worth more than $US5 million.
The White House disclosure list states that most assets are held in trust for the benefit of Liddell’s wife and stepchildren. However, one investment not included is Liddell’s pending purchase of a $15 million penthouse with breath-taking views over the harbour and city in The International complex on Auckland’s Princes Street, the former Fonterra headquarters being converted into 88 apartments.
The 678sq m penthouse acquisition indicated Liddell had designs on spending more time in his native country but the US looks likely to be his adopted home for a while yet.
After describing his White House appointment as an honour, Mr Liddell has said little about his public service since joining the Trump administration.
Born in Matamata, the Mt Albert Grammar old boy has an honours degree in engineering from Auckland University and a masters of philosophy from Oxford. Initially an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, Liddell eventually became joint chief executive before he moved to Carter Holt Harvey in the mid-1990s as chief financial officer and then chief executive.
A shift to the US in 2003 as the chief financial officer of International Paper led to Liddell’s big career break when he became Microsoft’s chief financial officer with a reported base salary in 2008 of $US561,667 supplemented by a cash bonus of $US595,000 and share options worth between $US2-3 million.
When he quit Microsoft in November 2009, Liddell had to sign a resignation agreement that stipulated he didn’t “make any disparaging remarks about Microsoft, its officers or directors.” In return, there was a severance payment of $US1.9 million. Two months later, he became chief financial officer at an ailing General Motors where he steered the business back to health with a $US23 billion IPO before suddenly leaving within 14 months.
Chosen as the New Zealand Business Leader of the Year in 2010, Liddell was also recognised in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and philanthropy.
However, his White House appointment has stymied the philanthropic work and the 58-year-old subsequently resigned from groups such as the Next Foundation and Predator Free 2050, as well as giving up his chairmanship at Xero and selling millions of dollars worth of shares to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Previously married to New Zealand businesswomen Sarah Kennedy and Bridget Wickham, Liddell’s third wife is New Yorker Renee Harbers, a former Microsoft employee and widow of Jeffery Harbers, another Microsoft insider who died in a plane crash in 2006.
As the founder and chief executive of the Harbers Family Foundation, Harbers is a well-connected Republican who has devoted herself to philanthropy. Between them, the couple now have seven children or stepchildren. Reflecting on the loss of her first husband, Harbers says “my husband Chris lost his father when he was young, so he also shares a similar mentality of just going for it. I think it’s one of the reasons we’re so well suited – we live with the awareness that you never know what’s around the corner.”