Erik Bethel

Last updated
Erik Bethel
NationalityAmerican
Education United States Naval Academy
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA)
EmployerMare Liberum Fund
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMichelle Bethel
Children3

Erik Bethel is a global finance professional with experience in the private and public sectors. He is currently a partner at Mare Liberum, a venture fund focused on investing in maritime technologies. In 2020, he was nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Panama. [1] Previously, he was nominated by the president and confirmed unanimously by the Senate to represent the United States at the World Bank. [2]  

Contents

Early life and education

Bethel grew up in Miami. His father was Paul Bethel, a career State Department official stationed in Cuba, Japan, and Germany. His mother is Diana Esperanza Gonzalez Estradé de Bethel. She was born in Havana, Cuba. Bethel graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy, where he was an Olmsted Scholar, a Cox Fund Scholar, and a battalion commander. Bethel later earned an Master of Business Administration from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Milken Scholar. [3]

Bethel was featured on the Shawn Ryan podcast [4] in November 2024 where he discussed his early life, professional experience, China, and national security. [5]

Career

Bethel is a financial professional in private equity and venture capital in the U.S., Latin America and Asia. Bethel began his career at Morgan Stanley in New York covering Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Subsequently, Bethel moved to Mexico City as an investment banker and then back to New York, where he joined J.P. Morgan's private equity division. In 2006, Bethel relocated to Shanghai, China, where he co-founded a financial firm called Sino-Latin Capital, was acquired by a division of Franklin Templeton. Bethel has served on the Board of Governors of Opportunity International, a non-profit organization that provides financial services to impoverished people in developing countries. Bethel serves on the International Advisory Council of Oxford Analytica, an advisor to Global SWF, a sovereign wealth fund analytics platform, a Trustee at the United States Naval War College, a Senior Fellow [6] at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Distinguished Fellow at the Chamber of Digital Commerce, and a Committee Member at the US EXIM Bank." [3]

World Bank service

On November 21, 2017, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Bethel to a two-year term to represent the United States at the World Bank. [7] On December 1, 2017, his nomination was sent to the Senate. [8] On March 22, 2018, his nomination was confirmed 100-0 by voice vote. While at the World Bank, Bethel promoted several initiatives, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, to streamline World Bank operations. [9] He also focused on digital currencies while at the World Bank and afterwards. [10]

Bethel gave a testimony to the US House Oversight committee related to concerns over Chinas influence in multilateral organizations in June 2024. [11]

Ambassadorship nomination

On April 20, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Bethel to serve as the United States ambassador to Panama citing Bethel's fluency in Spanish and business experience in Latin America. [3] On May 4, 2020, Trump sent his nomination to the Senate. [12] Bethel's nomination passed unanimously through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but after the 2020 United States presidential election, the nomination returned to the Senate. [13]

Personal life

Bethel is married to Michelle Bethel (née Harp) and has three children. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hertling</span> American judge (born 1960)

Richard Alan Hertling is a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph F. Bianco</span> American judge (born 1966)

Joseph Frank Bianco is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was formerly a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations, Congress confirmed 329 judgeships, 173 during the 111th & 112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L. Felipe Restrepo</span> American judge (born 1959)

Luis Felipe Restrepo, known commonly as L. Felipe Restrepo, is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Milton Younge</span> American judge (born 1955)

John Milton Younge is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

This is a list of political appointments of current officeholders made by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan D. Nelson</span> American judge (born 1973)

Ryan Douglas Nelson is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was previously nominated to become Solicitor of the United States Department of the Interior, but was never confirmed.

Donald Trump, President of the United States from 2017 to 2021, entered office with a significant number of judicial vacancies, including a Supreme Court vacancy due to the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. During the first eight months of his presidency, he nominated approximately 50 judges, a significantly higher number than any other recent president had made by that point in his presidency. By June 24, 2020, 200 of his Article III nominees had been confirmed by the United States Senate. According to multiple media outlets, Trump significantly impacted the composition of the Supreme Court and lower courts during his tenure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Kleeh</span> American judge (born 1974)

Thomas Shawn Kleeh is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David C. Joseph</span> American judge (born 1977)

David Cleveland Joseph is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. He was previously United States Attorney for the same district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach</span> Puerto Rican judge (born 1967)

Raúl Manuel Arias-Marxuach is the chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew L. Brasher</span> American judge (born 1981)

Andrew Lynn Brasher is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. He is a former solicitor general of Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Blumenfeld</span> American judge (born 1962)

Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He formerly served as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2006 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark C. Scarsi</span> American judge (born 1964)

Mark Christopher Scarsi is an American lawyer who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He was appointed to the federal bench in 2020 by Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory T. Wilson</span> American judge (born 1970)

Cory Todd Wilson is an American attorney and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Wilson was previously a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd W. Robinson</span> American judge (born 1967)

Todd Wallace Robinson is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. He previously served as an assistant United States attorney for the same district from 1997 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Kindred</span> American lawyer (born 1977)

Joshua Michael Kindred is an American lawyer and former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. He served on the court from 2020 to 2024. He resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Scott Hardy</span> American judge (born 1971)

William Scott Hardy is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert S. Gilchrist</span> American diplomat (born 1964)

Robert Stuart Gilchrist is an American diplomat who had served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor from September 2023 to August 2024. He served as the United States ambassador to Lithuania from February 2020 to August 2023. He is a career Foreign Service Officer with the rank of minister counselor. He was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 2019. Gilchrist was the fifth US ambassador from the LGBT community nominated to serve by the Trump administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hector Gonzalez (judge)</span> American judge (born 1964)

Hector Gonzalez is an American lawyer who is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

References

  1. ↑ "Bethel, Erik P. - Republic of Panama - May 2020". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
  2. ↑ House, The White (2023-01-23). "Nominations Sent to the Senate". The White House. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts" White House, April 20, 2020 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  4. ↑ "Bio". Shawn Ryan Show. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  5. ↑ "SRS #144 Erik Bethel - World Bank Director". Shawn Ryan Show. 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  6. ↑ "Erik Bethel". www.csis.org. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
  7. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration", The White House, November 17, 2017
  8. ↑ "Twelve Nominations Sent to the Senate Today", The White House, December 1, 2017
  9. ↑ "PN1289 - Nomination of Erik Bethel for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 115th Congress (2017-2018)". www.congress.gov. March 22, 2018.
  10. ↑ The Digitisation of Currency | Erik Bethel | TEDxVerbier, 4 November 2022, retrieved 2023-10-02
  11. ↑ "Defending America from the Chinese Communist Party's Political Warfare, Part II". United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. 2024-12-10. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  12. ↑ "Thirty Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate", The White House, May 4, 2020
  13. ↑ "PN1731 - Nomination of Erik Paul Bethel for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.