Thomas J. Barrack was appointed by President Trump to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria. Ambassador Barrack is the Founder and former Chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, Inc., a Los Angeles-based global private equity investment firm (now known as DigitalBridge), one of the world’s largest digital infrastructure investors with approximately $80 billion in assets under management and operations in 19 countries. Ambassador Barrack and the companies he has founded and led have invested more than $200 billion of capital across nearly every continent and a multitude of industries. Recognized as a visionary, contrarian, and first-mover, Ambassador Barrack has built a global network of relationships, particularly among the world’s most prominent institutional and Middle Eastern investors and governments. As the leader of a firm with global reach, Ambassador Barrack has extensive experience managing complex business, banking, legal, governmental, and cultural matters in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Ambassador Barrack began his career as a finance attorney with a major international law firm, working and living in Europe and the Middle East. He later worked on Wall Street and as a Principal of the famous Robert M. Bass Group. In 1982, Ambassador Barrack was appointed by President Reagan as Deputy Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and in 2016, was selected by President Trump to serve as Chairman of the 58th U.S. Presidential Inaugural Committee. He is the grandson of Catholic Lebanese immigrants.