Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, began his career in business in 1982. He was chairman of the board of Gateway from 2005 to 2007, a co-founder of Ardesta, LLC, a venture capital firm, HealthMedia, Inc., a digital health coaching company, and is currently CEO of SensCy, a cybersecurity company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
A member of the Republican Party, he won the 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election and won reelection in 2014. Snyder was term-limited and could not seek re-election in 2018 and was succeeded by Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Snyder was considered a possible Republican Party candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2012, although ultimately Paul Ryan was selected.Anders, Melissa (May 3, 2012)., MLive.com. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
In 2014, Snyder gained national attention during the Flint water crisis, in which he was accused of mishandling the situation that exposed thousands of Flint residents to lead-contaminated water. A report by the University of Michigan School of Public Health concluded Snyder bore "significant legal responsibility" for the Flint water crisis. In 2020, an article was published in Vice detailing evidence of corruption and a cover-up by Snyder, including that he was warned repeatedly about the dangerous effects of the decisions he had made about the Flint water supply. In January 2021, Snyder was among those criminally charged for the crisis. He pled not guilty to two misdemeanor charges. In December 2022, Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm dismissed the charges.
Early life, education, and family Snyder was born to Dale F. and Helen Louella Snyder in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan, where he was raised. His father owned a local window-cleaning company in Battle Creek and was of paternal Dutch descent. He has an elder sister. When he was 16, he took a business class at Kellogg Community College on weekends. By his senior year at Lakeview High School, Snyder had earned 23 college credits.
Snyder visited the admissions office of the University of Michigan in November 1975 and spoke with the admissions director, who recommended that Snyder attend Michigan and create his own degree. Snyder received a Bachelor of General Studies in 1977, a Master of Business Administration in 1979, and a Juris Doctor in 1982, all from the University of Michigan. Snyder is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife Sue and their three children and has a vacation home near Gun Lake. The couple were married in 1987 at Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church in Dearborn, Michigan. Snyder has indicated he is a practicing Presbyterian.
Business career Coopers & Lybrand Snyder was employed with Coopers & Lybrand, from 1982 to 1991, beginning in the tax department of the Detroit office. Snyder was named partner in 1988. The next year, Snyder was named partner-in-charge of the mergers and acquisitions practice in the Chicago office. He served as an adjunct assistant professor of accounting at the University of Michigan from 1982 to 1984.
Gateway, Inc. Snyder joined the computer company Gateway (based in Irvine, California) in 1991 as the executive vice president. He served as president and chief operating officer from 1996 to 1997. He remained on the board of directors until 2007. From 2005 to 2007, Snyder served as the chairman of the board. During 2006, Snyder served as interim chief executive officer while a search for a permanent replacement was made. His tenure on the Gateway board ran from 1991 to 2007 until Gateway was sold to Acer Inc. Snyder stated that he did not vote for outsourcing while he was a Gateway board director and he worked to bring jobs to America as the interim CEO of Gateway.
Venture Capital / Investments In 1997, Snyder returned to Ann Arbor to found Avalon Investments Inc., a venture capital company with a $100 million fund, along with the co-founder of Gateway, Ted Waitt. Snyder was president and chief executive officer of Avalon from 1997 to 2000. He then co-founded Ardesta LLC, an investment firm, in 2000 along with three co-founders, which invested in 20 start-up companies through 2011. He was chairman and chief executive officer of the company.
HealthMedia, Inc. In 1998, Snyder funded and co-founded HealthMedia Incorporated (HMI). HMI was developer of digital health coaching applications that implemented tailored questionnaires to gather personal information with the goal of creating customized health promotion plans for individuals. The University of Michigan Office of Technology Transfer provided the new company with exclusive research and development findings into health-related computerized tailored messaging and the exclusive licence to sell that content. Despite these benefits, HMI underperformed. In 2001, Snyder replaced the founding CEO and personally rescued the company from insolvency with more of his own money. After multiple rounds of more additional financing through venture capital, HMI was sold in 2008 for a reported $200 million to Johnson & Johnson. The sale of HMI transferred included personal health information from millions of users, which played a key role in the negotiated price. At the time of the reported $200 million deal, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman was on Johnson & Johnson's board of directors. When campaigning for Michigan governor in 2010, Snyder was quoted as saying, "[HMI] is one of the best success stories in the state." Following Snyder's election as Michigan governor, Johnson & Johnson then folded HMI into a subsidiary (Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions) and is no longer operating in the state of Michigan.
SensCy, Inc. In July 2022, Snyder co-founded SensCy along with former State of Michigan CIO David Behen, Ann Arbor entrepreneur Bhushan Kulkarni, and Dave Kelly who led cyber command for the Michigan State Police. SensCy is a cybersecurity start-up focused on helping small and medium-sized organizations improve their cyberhealth. Snyder's firm invented the SensCy Score, a numeric representation of an organization's cyberhealth. It is based in Ann Arbor.
Non-profit service Snyder serves on the boards of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (a National Historic Landmark), the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and several boards associated with his alma mater the University of Michigan. He was also first chair of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 1999 under Republican governor John Engler and was also the chair of Ann Arbor SPARK.
Gubernatorial elections 2010
Snyder competed with Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, state Senator Tom George, United States Congressman Pete Hoekstra, and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox as candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Bill Ford Jr., chairman of the Ford Motor Company, endorsed Snyder for the Republican nomination for governor.Bill Ford Jr. endorses Ann Arbor's Rick Snyder for governor , AnnArbor.com, September 24, 2009..Mlive.com September 24, 2009. He campaigned as "pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, [and] pro-family," with a focus on the economy.Bomey, Nathan (September 9, 2009). Ann Arbor venture capitalist Rick Snyder lands gubernatorial endorsements , AnnArbor.com. Retrieved December 13, 2014. His campaign emphasized his experience in growing business and creating jobs in the private sector, saying that his opponents were mainly career politicians. Snyder favors the standard exceptions on abortion for rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother (he signed legislation banning partial birth abortion in October 2011); he opposes federal funding of abortions; he would not ban embryonic stem cell research; is opposed to same-sex marriage but would allow civil unions.Christoff, Chris (August 27, 2010). Poll: GOP's Snyder is winning over voters , Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
In August 2010, Snyder won the primary to secure the Republican nomination with a plurality of 36% of the vote. In the general election in November, Snyder faced Democratic nominee Virg Bernero, the mayor of Lansing, and three minor party candidates. In October 2010, Snyder's campaign total exceeded $11.6 million, outpacing his opponent.Rick Snyder tops Virg Bernero in fundraising in Michigan gubernatorial race , annarbor.com, October 22, 2010. Snyder released his tax returns for 2007 and 2008."Gubernatorial hopeful Rick Snyder of Ann Arbor releases tax returns" , Ann Arbor.com, July 17, 2010. Snyder won with 58% of the vote. With Snyder's election in 2010, Republicans gained a majority in the Michigan House and increased the Republican majority held in the Michigan Senate. Snyder was the first Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to be elected governor of the state and at the time, the only CPA to serve as a governor in the United States., MLive.com, January 20, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
2014
In January 2014, Snyder launched his campaign for a second term as governor.Oosting, Jonathan (January 30, 2014). , MLive.com. Retrieved December 13, 2014.Woods, Ashley (January 31, 2014)."Rick Snyder Launches Re-election Campaign For Michigan Governor Race" . The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 14, 2014. He was unopposed in the Republican primary and faced Democratic former United States Representative Mark Schauer for the general election. Snyder was considered vulnerable in his bid for a second term, as reflected in his low approval ratings, however, Schauer suffered from a lack of name recognition. Snyder garnered approximately 51% of the vote in the November 2014 election, defeating Schauer and earning a second term.
Governor of Michigan Tenure
His first executive order as governor was to divide the Department of Natural Resources and Environment into two distinct departments as they were a few years before: the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality. On January 7, 2011, Snyder announced he was appointing Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura D. Corrigan to head the Department of Human Services and appointed Michigan Appeals Court Judge Brian K. Zahra to fill the resulting Supreme Court vacancy. Snyder delivered his first State of the State address on January 19, the earliest Michigan State of the State since Governor John Engler's 1996 address on January 17. He endorsed the Detroit River International Crossing for the first time publicly in the address, which was received favorably by Republicans. Snyder appointed Andy Dillon, a pro-life Democrat, and formerly Speaker of the House, to serve as state treasurer in his administration.