It’s a long way from Matamata to the Oval Office of the White House.
Born in the Waikato township, Mount Albert Grammar old boy Chris Liddell has an honours degree in engineering from Auckland University and a masters in philosophy from Oxford.
His father died without any money to his name and Liddell credits never wanting to be in that situation as his motivation to succeed.
Initially an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, Liddell eventually became joint chief executive before he moved to Carter Holt Harvey in the mid-1990s as chief financial officer and then chief executive.
A shift to the US in 2003 as the chief financial officer of International Paper led to Liddell’s big career break when he became Microsoft’s chief financial officer.
Two months after quitting Microsoft in November 2009, Liddell became chief financial officer at an ailing General Motors where he steered the business back to health with a $US23 billion IPO before suddenly leaving within 14 months.
He first gained profile on the US political scene in 2012 as head of Republican candidate Mitt Romney's White House transition team.
A stint as Xero chairman was headed off when Liddell was appointed to the Trump White House.
The ambitious Kiwi, earlier dubbed a "genius" by the president, joined the Trump administration as a strategic adviser.
He was touted as a potential economic adviser and then chief of staff but now has the title of “Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination.” He was last reported to be in meetings with President Trump and other advisers mulling whether or not to intervene in US currency markets as a play in the escalating trade war with China.
Photo: Getty Images
2018: $150 million