Richard C. Blum is the founder of the University of California’s Blum Center for Developing Economies, founder and chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation, Honorary Consul of Nepal, emeritus trustee of the Brookings Institution, and founder of the Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty. A private-equity investor, he is founding partner and chairman of San Francisco–based Blum Capital Partners and its affiliate partners. He is former chairman of CBRE Group, and was a long-serving director of Northwest Airlines, and vice chairman of URS Corporation. He was cofounder and partner in Newbridge Capital, an investment group focused on Asia.
Richard has been a regent of the University of California since 2002, and chairman emeritus after serving more than two years as chairman. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees at UC Berkeley’s School of Business. He is married to US Senator Dianne Feinstein, of California, and serves on the boards of The Carter Center, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the President’s Global Development Council, Central European University, and The Wilderness Society, among others.
Thomas C. Hayes is a principal with Finsbury, a global consulting firm in strategic communications, and a former award-winning New York Times economic correspondent. This is his fourth book, collaborating on each as writer with authors in business, investing, management, technology, and philanthropy. He and his wife live in Bethel, Connecticut.