Chris Liddell, the former chief finanical officer at Microsoft and a key touchpoint for current tech execs in the Trump administration, could become President Trump’s top economic adviser.
Former Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell could be Trump’s next top economic adviser
It could give Silicon Valley more influence in the Trump administration.
That’s according to reports Saturday that finger Liddell as the likely next head of the National Economic Council, the policymaking advisory body that is currently led by Gary Cohn. The White House said this week that Cohn would leave his gig soon.
Liddell is currently the White House’s director of strategic initiatives and is said to be a key ally of Jared Kushner in an administration rife with internal feuds. Liddell and Reed Cordish, another businessman and friend of Kushner’s, have been two of the main emissaries from the White House to Silicon Valley. Cordish said last month he was also leaving the White House.
Liddell’s profile would certainly expand if he were take the job — he would be expected to advise Trump on everything from tarriffs to tax cuts to entitlement reform. And it would also likely give tech more access to the White House in the same way that Cohn, a former president of Goldman Sachs, gave Wall Street access to it.
The New Zealand-born Liddell served as CFO at MIcrosoft from 2005 to 2009 before jumping to General Motors.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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