Christopher Drake Heinz (born 1973) is an American
businessman
A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...
and investment manager. He is an
heir to the
billionaire fortune to the family food company
Heinz.
Family
Chris Heinz is the youngest son of
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Henry John Heinz III (d. 1991) and
Teresa Heinz Kerry
Teresa Heinz (born Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira; October 5, 1938), also known as Teresa Heinz Kerry, is a Portuguese-American businesswoman and philanthropist. Heinz is the widow of former U.S. Senator John Heinz and the wife of fo ...
. He is the great-great-grandson of the industrialist and founder of the
H.J. Heinz Co. He has two brothers, H. John Heinz IV (born 4 November 1966) and
Andre Heinz. He and his brothers served on the board of
The Heinz Endowments chaired by their mother.
[ His father was killed in the 1991 ]mid-air collision
In aviation, a mid-air collision is an accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. Owing to the relatively high velocities involved and the likelihood of subsequent impact with the ground or sea, very sever ...
of a helicopter and plane ( Merion air disaster).
Chris Heinz is a stepson of former U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
and former presidential candidate John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
, and stepbrother of Alexandra Kerry
Alexandra Forbes Kerry (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is a partner at Locomotive Films and co-founder of Fictional Pictures, a film production company based in New York and Los Angeles. She is married to conte ...
and Vanessa Kerry
Vanessa Bradford Kerry (born December 31, 1976) is an American physician, health care administrator, and doctor. She is a founder of the non-profit Seed Global Health. Her father is John Kerry, who served as the 68th United States Secretary o ...
. Heinz married Alexandra Lewis in February 2007. They have two children.
Career
In 2004 when his stepfather John Kerry, was the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, Heinz quit his job working as a venture capitalist to work as a fundraiser and surrogate speaker for Kerry’s campaign. Heinz worked on his stepfather's Presidential campaign, and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts for president and Senator John Edwards from North ...
where he was considered a plausible candidate for a 2006 seat in the U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
. In 2005, he co-founded Rosemont Capital (named for the family’s Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an affluent suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown. The borough continually garners national prominence and is home to many of the wealthiest and most powerful p ...
property near Pittsburgh) until departing in 2014.[ He was a partner in the ]Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
firm Rosemont Seneca from its founding in 2009 until 2014, when he ended his working relationship with Hunter Biden
Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970) is an American attorney who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia Hunter Biden. He is also a hedge fund, venture capital, and private-equity fund investor who for ...
, after Biden took a board position on Burisma Holdings
Burisma Holdings Limited ( uk, Бурісма Холдингс) is a holding company for a group of energy exploration and production companies. It is registered in Limassol, Cyprus, but based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Burisma Holdings has operated in t ...
(a Ukrainian fracking
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
gas company), which was owned by Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky, the former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources. In 2015, he relocated to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
.[
He has served on the board of the Navy SEAL Foundation.][ He is a former member of the Council on Foreign Relations.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinz, Christopher
1973 births
Yale University alumni
Harvard Business School alumni
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
Heinz family
Living people