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Tom Barrack | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| United States Ambassador to Turkey | |
| Assumed office May 14, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Jeff Flake |
| United States Special Envoy for Syria | |
| Assumed office May 23, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Joel Rayburn |
| United States Deputy Undersecretary of the Interior | |
| In office January 5, 1983 – c. March 1983 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Secretary | James G. Watt |
| Succeeded by | William Horn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-04-28)April 28, 1947 (age 78) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Education | University of Southern California (BA) University of San Diego (JD) |
Thomas Joseph Barrack Jr. (born April 28, 1947)[1] is an Americanprivate equity real estate investor and the founder and retired chairman ofColony Capital, a publicly tradedreal estate investment trust.[2]
Barrack has for decades been a close friend of and fundraiser for U.S. PresidentDonald Trump, representing him in television news appearances.[3] He was senior advisor toTrump's 2016 presidential campaign and served as the chairman of hisInaugural Committee.[12] In Trump's second administration, Barrack serves as theUnited States Ambassador to Turkey.[13]
Barrack's grandparents wereLebanese Christians who immigrated in 1900 to theUnited States fromZahlé.[14][15] Barrack was raised inCulver City, California, where his father was a grocer and his mother was a secretary.[16]
In 1969, Barrack earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Southern California (USC), where he participated on their varsityrugby team.[17][18] He then attended theUSC Gould School of Law, where he was an editor of theSouthern California Law Review, before receiving aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of San Diego School of Law in 1972.[17][15][19]
Barrack's first job was at the law firm ofHerbert W. Kalmbach, PresidentRichard Nixon's personal lawyer.[20] In 1972, the firm sent him toSaudi Arabia, where he soon became thesquash partner of a Saudi prince.[14][16] He then worked in the kingdom for theFluor Corporation,[2] and worked for Saudi princes. Shortly after, he helped open diplomatic relations betweenSaudi Arabia andHaiti, then ruled byJean-Claude Duvalier, at the request of investorLonnie Dunn.[7][permanent dead link]
In 1982, Barrack served as deputyundersecretary of theUnited States Department of the Interior underJames G. Watt in theReagan administration.[6][9][14] TheSecret Service would board its horses at Barrack's ranch when PresidentRonald Reagan was at his nearbyRancho del Cielo.[14] Watt made his resignation announcement at Barrack's ranch.[14] Barrack says he became disillusioned with government service after he was required to testify before acongressional committee due to a gift Barrack had paid to the purchaser of then-Attorney GeneralEdwin Meese's house.[14]
In 1987, Barrack was later a principal with theRobert M. Bass Group.[6][8][9][14] In 1985, Barrack first dealt withDonald Trump when he sold Trump a one-fifth stake in theAlexander's department stores.[16] In 1988, Trump agreed to pay Barrack $410 million for total ownership of thePlaza Hotel.[16] He later lost both properties in bankruptcy.[16]
In 1990, Barrack foundedColony Capital, with initial investments by Bass andGE Capital, and laterEli Broad,Merrill Lynch, andKoo Chen-fu.[21] Barrack achieved 50% profits in his first two years by focusing on distressed properties, including the federalResolution Trust Corporation.[14] He has invested some $200 million in Middle East real estate, $534 million innon-performing German real estate loans, and made a $24 million loan to photographerAnnie Leibovitz.[15] He also ownsNeverland Ranch which was once the home of mega superstarMichael Jackson.[15] Through Colony Capital, he runs a $25 billion portfolio of assets, from theFairmont Raffles Hotels International hotel chain in Asia, theAga Khan's former resort inSardinia,Resorts International Holdings,One&Only Resorts,Atlantis, etc.[7]
Colony American Homes was criticized for treating tenants poorly during theGreat Recession, raising rents, evicting people in large numbers and failing to maintain properties.[22][23]
Barrack has previously negotiated drilling rights withMana Al Otaiba.[16] In 2009, Barrack negotiated with Otaiba's son, AmbassadorYousef Al Otaiba, the sale of a $41 million stake in theRaffles L'Ermitage hotel to theAbu Dhabi Investment Authority.[16]
In 2010, Barrack bought $70 million ofJared Kushner's debt on666 Fifth Avenue.[16] Kushner later avoided bankruptcy when Barrack agreed to reduce his obligations after a request by Trump.[16]
As of September 2011, Barrack wasthe 833rd richest person in the world, and the375th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of $1.1. billion USD.[15] However, he was no longer a billionaire in 2014.[24]
In 2012, Barrack sold theParis Saint-Germain F.C. to theQatar Investment Authority.[16][25] Barrack had to pay €22 million to settle tax charges related to the 2012 sale of his resort onCosta Smeralda to the Qatarisovereign wealth fund.
In 2010, Barrack partnered with theQatar Investment authority to purchase the film production companyMiramax for $660 million.[14] In 2016, Barrack sold Miramax to the QataribeIN Media Group at a fourfold profit.[16] In October 2017, Barrack's Colony Capital agreed to invest inThe Weinstein Company to keep it afloat in light of thesexual misconduct allegations against the company's co-founder,Harvey Weinstein.[26]The New York Times reported that the preliminary agreement with Weinstein fell apart and the acquisition broke down, in part because Colony Capital required the deal would not enrich Weinstein.[27]
On June 3, 2016, Barrack's Colony Capital announced an all-stock three-way merger with two NorthStar affiliates to form Colony NorthStar, which would have managed $58 billion in assets and carried a pro-forma equity market capitalization of $7 billion and total capitalization of $17 billion.[28][29]
Management projected core FFO of $1.40–1.58 per share and targeted dividends of $1.08 per share for 2017,[30] but new FINRA rules requiring clearer REIT fee disclosures undermined the firm’s fundraising efforts by revealing fee levels that deterred prospective clients.[31][29]
On March 1, 2018, Colony NorthStar reported core FFO of $1.16 per share (22% below guidance), cut its dividend by 60%, and wrote down its Investment Management division by $375 million, causing the stock to fall 23% to $6.00.[29][30]
In 2017, Barrack sold a $70 million stake inOne California Plaza to the Abu Dhabi crown prince's investment fund.[16] During the first 18 months of theTrump administration, Colony NorthStar raised 24% of its $7 billion in investment from theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) orSaudi Arabia.[16]
Barrack usedCayman Islands entities to invest pension fund money in distressed real estate and send money towards the Colony parent company, according to an organization chart that surfaced in theParadise Papers documents leaked from the Appleby law firm[32]
Barrack is a trustee at theUniversity of Southern California.[33] He has also served on the board of directors ofAccor, Kerzner International,First Republic Bank,Continental Airlines,Korea First Bank, and Megaworld Properties & Holdings.[9][34][35] French presidentNicolas Sarkozy awarded him France'sChevalier de la Légion d'honneur.[6]
Barrack endorsedDonald Trump during the2016 United States presidential election.[36] He was a major fundraiser forTrump's campaign through the "Rebuilding America Now"Super PAC, which raised $23 million.[14][37][38]
Barrack recommended that Trump hirePaul Manafort as his campaign manager. Barrack first met Manafort in the 1970s when they were both working for the Saudis and living inBeirut.[16] In 2007, Barrack had loaned Manafort $1.5 million to refinance a home inthe Hamptons.[14]
On April 26, 2016, Barrack began an email correspondence with one of his business partners,UAE AmbassadorYousef Al Otaiba, reassuring him that Trump had investments in theUAE. "The emails were the beginning of Mr. Trump's improbable transformation from a candidate who campaigned against Muslims to a president celebrated in the royal courts of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi," according toNew York Times writerDavid D. Kirkpatrick, who characterized this as a testament to Barrack's "unique place in the Trump world".[16] On May 26, Barrack wrote to Otaiba to introduceJared Kushner, and the two met later that month.[16] On July 13, Barrack conveyed to Otaiba that Trump had removed from theRepublicanparty platform the plank calling for the release ofthe 28 pages of redacted information from the9/11 Commission Report.[16]
On July 21, Barrack spoke at the2016 Republican National Convention.[39] In September 2016, Barrack helped set up a meeting between Trump and the Emir ofQatar inTrump Tower, although, as Kilpatrick noted, none of the investments brought in from the gulf by Barrack's firm in the two years following that meeting came from Qatar.[16] After Trump became president, Barrack continued to act as a middleman between him andArab princes.[16]
Barrack served as chairman of the committee overseeing the2017 Trump inauguration, for which he raised over $100 million, doubling the previous record.[14] Barrack hiredRick Gates, first to help run the inauguration and, following that, as a consultant for his company. Gates was fired from the latter position in October 2017, the day he was indicted.[16]
In a 2017 article inThe Washington Post, Barrack commented on Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and proposals to ban immigrants from certain Muslim countries and put up aborder wall with Mexico. "He's better than this," he said.[14] He denies a quote attributed to him in the 2018 bookFire and Fury, that Trump was "not only crazy" but "stupid".[40]
Barrack was interviewed during theSpecial Counsel investigation intoRussian interference in the 2016 election, in particular regardingPaul Manafort,Rick Gates,Konstantin Kilimnik, the Trump campaign, the Trump transition team, and the financing of theTrump inauguration.[41][42]
Throughout the election campaign, transition period and inauguration process, Barrack is said to have had been in touch with people having ties in the ruling family of theUnited Arab Emirates, includingRashid al-Malik, a friend and business associate of Barrack andYousef Al Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to the US. According to aNew York Times report published in July 2019, Barrack also exchanged emails with Malik, sharing with him a draft of Trump's energy policy speech to seek approval on the 'pro-gulf region language'. Malik, as per the emails, "circulated the draft among Emirati and Saudi officials" to seek further approval, followed by Barrack incorporating the language suggested by Malik in the draft sent toPaul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman at the time.[43]
In 2021, Barrack denied involvement inTrump's pardon of Robert Zangrillo, a developer and investor who was charged in the2019 college admissions bribery scandal for his alleged role in getting his daughter accepted into USC. The White House had listed Barrack as a supporter of the pardon.[44][45]
Barrack was allegedly directed by the UAE officials to meet former congressmanSteve Stockman. Between February and March 15, 2017, the Emirates also asked Barrack to endorse the appointment of Stockman as the US ambassador to the UAE. The Emirati plans were, however, interrupted after Stockman was arrested for stealing and using charity money for personal expenses.[46]
On July 20, 2021, Barrack and his business protege Matthew Grimes were indicted as an agent working at the direction of a foreign power, obstructing justice, and making false statements to law enforcement.[47][48][49] He was jailed for two days before being released on $250 million bond secured by $5 million in cash.[50] The indictment was broadened in May 2022 to include allegations that Barrack sought hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from theUnited Arab Emirates while illegally lobbying theTrump administration on its behalf.[51]
In July 2017, in an interview with aState Department investigator, which was conducted to determine whether or not Barrack would be a threat to national security as an ambassador, he failed to provide names of the four Emiratis, who on behalf of the UAE government assigned Barrack to influence the Trump campaign. Barrack only mentioned the names ofAl Waleed bin Talal Al Saud,Nacho Figueras andRoberto Hernandez Ramirez.[52]
On November 4, 2022, Barrack and Matthew Grimes were both found not guilty.[53]
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In December 2024, President Trump nominated Barrack as the new US ambassador to Turkey.[54][55] The Senate confirmed him in a 60–36 vote on April 29, 2025.[56] He presented his credentials to Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 14, 2025.[57] He was also selected by Trump as the newUnited States Special Envoy for Syria on May 23, 2025.[58] He later brokered the July 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Syria amid theSouthern Syria clashes, urgingDruze,Bedouin, andSunni factions to disarm and promoting a unified Syrian identity with regional support from Turkey and Jordan.[59]
In August 2025, Barrack was heavily criticized inLebanon after telling a group of journalists to "act civilized" and describing them as "animalistic" as they questioned him about the Trump Administration's plans for the south of the country, prompting outrage from the Lebanese media and journalists' union. The Lebanese presidency issued a statement expressing regret over the comments by "one of its guests".[60] The backlash caused Barrack to cancel a planned trip the following day toSouth Lebanon.[61] He later apologized over the remarks.[62]
In 2014, Barrack married Rachelle Roxborough until they divorced in 2016. He has six children.[63]
His family is based in Los Angeles, California.[24] He also owns a 1,200-acre mountain ranch nearSanta Barbara, California,[7][permanent dead link][15] as well as Happy Canyon Vineyards in theHappy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA, and a tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara.[64] He is Roman Catholic.[16][65] In 2014, Barrack bought a house inSanta Monica for $21 million, which he later sold for $35 million, the highest price for a residence in that area.[66][67] In 2017, he purchased a $15.5 million home inAspen, Colorado.[68]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Turkey 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Chargé d'Affaires | |
|---|---|
| Minister Resident | |
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | |
