Jonathan E. Kaplan

Last updated
Jonathan E. Kaplan's voice
Kaplan's opening statement at his confirmation hearing to be United States ambassador to Singapore
Recorded October 20, 2021
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan, Ambassador to Singapore.jpg
United States Ambassador to Singapore
In office
December 6, 2021 –January 20, 2025

Jonathan Eric Kaplan is an American entrepreneur who served as the United States ambassador to Singapore from 2021 to 2025. Kaplan was previously the chair of EducationSuperHighway, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco. [1]

Contents

Education

Kaplan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University. [2] [3]

Career

Corporate career

After graduating from college, Kaplan worked for Condé Nast. [4] He was later the vice president and general manager of Geoworks. He was also the founder and CEO of MovieStreet. Kaplan was the president and CEO of Sega.com and was the chairperson and CEO of Pure Digital Technologies. In his role, Kaplan invented and marketed the Flip Video before the company was acquired and shuttered by Cisco Systems. [5] [6] [7] Most recently, Kaplan was the chairperson and CEO of the FishSix Restaurant Corporation, a holding company that owns several grilled cheese sandwich restaurants in California, Texas, and Colorado. [8] [9]

United States ambassador to Singapore

Kaplan with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2022 Secretary Blinken Meets with Ambassador Kaplan (51803181226).jpg
Kaplan with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in January 2022

On July 29, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kaplan to be the next United States ambassador to Singapore. [10] [11] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on his nomination on October 20, 2021. The committee favorably reported Kaplan's nomination to the Senate floor on November 3, 2021. The entire Senate confirmed his nomination on November 19, 2021. [12] [13] On December 6, 2021, he presented his credentials to President Halimah Yacob. [14] [15] In February 2024, the Department of State released a watchdog report suggesting that Kaplan mistreated staff, wasted funds and had a poor relationship with local officials while in Singapore. [16] [17] [18]

References

  1. ↑ "Mayor London Breed Announces Partnership to Increase Free Internet Access to Support Distance Learning | Office of the Mayor". sfmayor.org. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ "May 15: Entrepreneurs Wanted: New Open Field Entrepreneurs Fund To Jumpstart Creation of Innovative Businesses by Carnegie Mellon Graduates - Carnegie Mellon University | CMU". www.cmu.edu. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  3. ↑ "President Biden Announces Six Key Nominations". The White House. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Jonathan Kaplan". Tepper Magazine. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  5. ↑ Stone, Brad (June 4, 2008). "The Flip, a camcorder for regular people". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  6. ↑ McNicholas, Kym. "Say Goodbye To The Flip Video Camera. The Melt Is Open For Business". Forbes. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Flip camera founder exits top job at his grilled cheese restaurant chain". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Melt Storms Back with New Menu, Mantra". QSR magazine. February 20, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  9. ↑ Miller, Claire Cain (June 20, 2011). "A Tech Entrepreneur's Plan for Grilled-Cheese Sandwiches". Bits Blog. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  10. ↑ Thomas, Ken (July 29, 2021). "Biden to Nominate Jonathan Kaplan to Be Ambassador to Singapore". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  11. ↑ "President Biden Announces Six Key Nominations" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 29, 2021.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  12. ↑ "PN952 — Jonathan Eric Kaplan — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022)". US Congress. November 19, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  13. ↑ Yong, Charissa (November 20, 2021). "US Senate confirms Biden nominee Jonathan Kaplan as ambassador to S'pore". The Straits Times. ISSN   0585-3923 . Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Arrival of Ambassador Jonathan Eric Kaplan". U.S. Embassy in Singapore. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  15. ↑ "G.N. 2612/2021" (PDF). Republic of Singapore Government Gazette: 1. December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ Jamrisko, Michelle; Martin, Peter; Heijmans, Philip (March 1, 2024). "US's Singapore Envoy Is Said to Berate Staff, Waste Money". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  17. ↑ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  18. ↑ Inspector General, Office Of (February 2024). "Inspection of Embassy Singapore, Singapore".
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.