Charles Rivkin

Early life and education

Of Russian Jewish heritage, Rivkin is one of four children of William R. Rivkin, the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President John F. Kennedy and United States Ambassador to Senegal and Gambia under President Lyndon B. Johnson; and Enid Hammerman, who was the daughter of the owner of one of the largest children's clothing manufacturers at the time. Rivkin's father died in 1967 when he was 5 and his mother remarried Chicago obstetrician Dr. John S. Long in 1971.

Rivkin earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1984 where he graduated with distinction in political science and international relations. During his time at Yale, he was a member of two of Yale's a cappella groups: the underclassmen Spizzwinks and the all-senior Whiffenpoofs. He then earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1988.

He speaks fluent French and spent years as a youth studying, traveling and working in France, including studying in Rennes, France, with School Year Abroad and working as an intern at Renault. Business interests regularly brought him to Paris or Cannes prior to his appointment as ambassador.

Business career

Prior to entering government service, Rivkin worked in the media sector for over 20 years, serving as president and CEO of award-winning entertainment companies such as The Jim Henson Company, home of the "Muppets". He also served as CEO of Wildbrain where he won a BAFTA Award as Executive Producer of the hit TV series Yo Gabba Gabba!. Rivkin helped engineer the sale of The Jim Henson Company to EM.TV in 2000 for nearly $1 billion and was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.

Political activities

Rivkin served as an at-large California delegate for Senator John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Rivkin was the California finance co-chair for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and one of his top fund raisers.

Ambassador to France and Monaco

Rivkin assumed the role of Ambassador in August 2009. Ambassador Rivkin's service in France came at one of the bilateral relationship's strongest moments in recent history. To honor the legacy of Franco-American friendship and to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the Allied invasion of mainland Europe during World War II, Rivkin took part in a mass parachute jump over the coast of Normandy on June 3, 2012. During his 12,000-foot jump, Rivkin was accompanied by members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team. An estimated crowd of 25,000 watched Rivkin land in a field near Sainte-Mère-Église amidst heavy winds, as he became the first US Ambassador to France to jump from a plane in honor of the troops who fought on D-Day. In support of the U.S. Navy, Rivkin became the first US Ambassador to take off and land on a Navy aircraft carrier in an F-18 Super Hornet when he participated in a training exercise with naval aviators on the USS Eisenhower in March 2013.

According to the Department of State Office of Inspector General’s report in May 2012, Rivkin placed new emphasis on support for US exports of goods and services into France. The report called Rivkin a "dynamic and visionary noncareer Ambassador", and credited him with expanding the U.S. Embassy’s public diplomacy activities, particularly through his use of social media and his appearances on French national television. Rivkin introduced social media to Embassy Paris, establishing its first ever Facebook and Twitter accounts.

As ambassador, Rivkin made youth outreach one of his key priorities and connected the embassy to the next generation of leaders throughout France, including in disadvantaged communities in the banlieues outside larger cities. Rivkin organized a series of seminars for French youth, inviting them to meet with prominent American government officials, actors and musicians. Beginning with actor Samuel L. Jackson’s April 2010 visit with students in Bondy, an economically depressed Parisian suburb, Rivkin set up seminars with Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, as well as Woody Allen, Jodie Foster, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Robert Zemeckis, Allen Stone, Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and many others. "Much of the embassy's outreach is meant to dispel 'mistruths' about the United States", Rivkin said in an interview, adding, "It's easier to hate something you don't understand". In January 2012, Rivkin broadened his outreach efforts by creating the Washburne Award for Innovation in Diversity, recognizing one French and one American company for their best practices in fostering diversity in hiring practices.

In January 2013, Rivkin commented on the pending parole and release of Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who was sentenced to life in prison for complicity in the murders of an American and an Israeli diplomat: "I am disappointed by the decision today...Life imprisonment was the appropriate sentence for Mr Abdallah’s serious crimes, and there is legitimate concern that Mr. Abdallah would continue to represent a danger to the international community if he were allowed to go free."

On July 16, 2013, French President François Hollande awarded Ambassador Rivkin the rank of Commander in the Légion d'honneur at the Elysée Palace. Rivkin is the first US Ambassador in half a century to receive the decoration from a sitting French president. Rivkin's tenure as ambassador to France received highly favorable reviews by both State Department audits and from his embassy's employees. Rivkin left office in November 2013 following his nomination to become an Assistant Secretary of the State Department.

Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs

As Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Rivkin led a bureau at the U.S. State Department that is responsible for managing trade negotiations, investment treaties, economic sanctions, transportation affairs, telecommunications policy, international finance and development related issues, as well as intellectual property right protection. The Bureau is also the Department of State’s primary link to the private sector through its Office of Commercial and Business Affairs, which supports U.S. business interests internationally and works to create U.S. jobs by facilitating foreign investment in the United States. In addition, Rivkin provided guidance to the Department of State’s 1,600 economic officers around the world and to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In his first year as Assistant Secretary, Rivkin led multiple economic policy dialogues on behalf of the State Department, including discussions with Colombia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.

In June 2014, Rivkin co-chaired a meeting of the U.S.–Israel Joint Economic Development Group (JEDG) with the ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, in Tel Aviv; held bilateral meetings with Israeli Government officials in Jerusalem; and bilateral meetings with Palestinian businessmen and officials of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. In May 2016 in Ramallah, Rivkin led the first U.S.-Palestinian Economic Dialogue since 2004 in an effort to support private sector growth in the Palestinian economy.

In October 2015 and December 2016, Rivkin co-chaired the first and second annual U.S.-Qatar Economic and Investment Dialogues.

In March 2016, Rivkin and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx signed an arrangement with Cuban government officials to reestablish regularly scheduled flights between the United States and Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years.

In February 2015, Rivkin received la Grande Médaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris, the city of Paris’ highest honor, from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. In December 2016, Rivkin received the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the U.S. Department of the Navy's highest civilian recognition.

Personal life

In 1990, Rivkin married Susan Tolson in an interfaith Catholic and Jewish ceremony. They live in Washington, D.C., and have two children, Elias and Lily.

His brother Robert S. Rivkin was appointed by President Barack Obama as the 21st General Counsel of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and his brother's wife, Cindy S. Moelis, was appointed director of the Presidential Commission on White House Fellows. His aunt, Joanne H. Alter, was the first woman to be elected in the metropolitan Chicago area. His cousin, Jonathan Alter, is an award-winning author and NBC correspondent; and his cousin Jamie Alter Lynton, the wife of Sony Executive Michael Lynton, is one of California's biggest political fundraisers.

His family has presented the "Rivkin Award" at the United States Department of State since 1968 as a way to honor intellectual courage and constructive dissent in the American Foreign Service. The award was created in part with the help of Charles Rivkin's godfather, Hubert H. Humphrey, after the elder Rivkin's death at 47, in 1967.