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Chris Wright
American energy executive (born 1965) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Christopher Allen Wright (born January 15, 1965)[1][2] is an American government official, engineer, and businessman serving as the 17th United States secretary of energy since 2025. Before his appointment, he was the CEO of Liberty Energy, North America's second largest hydraulic fracturing company, and served on the boards of Oklo Inc., a nuclear technology company, and EMX Royalty Corp., a Canadian mineral rights and mining rights royalty payment company.[3]
On November 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wright as his nominee for the U.S. Secretary of Energy. Wright's nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 3, 2025 with a 59–38 vote.[4] Wright was sworn in as the Secretary of Energy on February 3, 2025.[5]
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Early and personal life
Chris Wright was born in 1965 and grew up in Colorado. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[6] He was a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and at MIT.[7] Wright and his wife, Liz, live in Englewood, Colorado.[8]
Career
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Business
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In 1992, Wright founded Pinnacle Technologies, a company involved in commercial shale gas production through fracking and served as its CEO until 2006. He was also chairman of Stroud Energy,[9] another company involved in the production of shale gas, before he sold the company in 2006.[8] In 2011, he founded Liberty Energy, then known as Liberty Oilfield Services.[10] As of February 2023, the company was valued at $2.8 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.[11] As the CEO of Liberty Energy, Wright earned $5.6 million in 2023.[6]
In 2019 Wright drank fracking fluid to demonstrate that it was not dangerous,[12][13] and Liberty Energy promoted its "greener selections" for chemical additives.[14] In a video posted to LinkedIn in January 2023, he said, "There is no climate crisis and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either".[15] He claimed that the climate movement around the world was "collapsing under its own weight".[7] He also said that the term "carbon pollution" is misleading.[16]
Wright served on the board of directors for the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from January 2020 to April 2024.[17][18][19]
In April 2024, Wright testified on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate change rule from March 2024, which requires the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, physical risks to climate change and transition risks.[20] He called the rule unlawful "climate regulation promulgated under the Commission's seal", said that companies' risks associated with extreme weather were decreasing,[20]: 9 and that millions of lives had been saved by reducing cold-related deaths.[20]: 10
Wright has been on the board of directors of Oklo Inc., a company that designs small fast-neutron reactors, and EMX Royalty Corp., a Canadian royalty payment company for mineral rights and mining rights.[3]
Government service
On November 15, 2024, the Financial Times reported that Wright was the most likely candidate for United States Secretary of Energy in Donald Trump's second presidency.[21] He had donated $228,390 to Trump's joint fundraising committee in 2024.[6] Republican senator John Barrasso praised Wright as an "energy innovator."[22] He received several endorsements from Trump allies including American Energy Alliance president Thomas Pyle and Continental Resources chairman Harold Hamm.[23]
On November 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Wright to serve as U.S. Secretary of Energy as well as a member of the National Energy Council following confirmation by the Senate.[24] The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted 15–6 in favor of Wright's nomination on January 23,[25] and the U.S. Senate confirmed Wright in a 59–38 vote[4] on February 3, 2025; he was sworn in later the same day.[5]
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References
External links
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