Reed Eric Hundt
(born March 3, 1948) is an American attorney who served as chairman of the United States
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
from November 29, 1993 to November 3, 1997.
Appointed by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, he served for most of Clinton's first term. He was succeeded by
William Kennard.
Hundt is the CEO and co-founder of the Coalition for Green Capital, a non-profit engaged in the creation of green banks in the United States and internationally, and Making Every Vote Count, a non-profit advocating to make the national popular vote relevant to selecting the President. He was also on the board of Intel Corporation 2001-20. He was a senior adviser to the law firm, Covington, in Washington, D.C., from 2014 to 2019, and lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and Portola Valley, California.
Biography
Hundt attended high school in
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, Na ...
at
St. Albans School, graduating in 1965.
He went to
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
, where he majored in history, and worked on the ''
Yale Daily News
The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878. It is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. The ''Yale Daily News'' has consis ...
''. Hundt taught school for several years before graduating from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
in 1974. He clerked for
Harrison Lee Winter
Harrison Lee Winter (April 18, 1921 – April 10, 1990) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Di ...
, a Baltimore judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maryla ...
, before moving to Los Angeles, where he became the 85th lawyer at
Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins LLP is an American multinational law firm. Founded in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, Latham is the second-largest law firm in the world by revenue. As of 2021, Latham is also one of the most profitable law firms in the world ...
, one of the top law firms in the world.
In 1980, Hundt moved to the Latham & Watkins' Washington, D.C., office. In his litigation career at the firm, Hundt appeared in court in 48 states and the District of Columbia, argued appellate cases in almost all circuits, and handled cases in many topic areas, although he specialized in antitrust.
From 1983 Hundt supported
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
's political career. In 1992-3 he was part of the Clinton-Gore transition team, and chaired the committee that drafted the partly successful
carbon tax
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...
introduced and passed in the House of Representatives in 1993. It was not passed through the Senate. In 1993 President Clinton, whom Hundt had known in law school, nominated Hundt to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was confirmed in November 1993.
Between 1998 and 2008, Hundt was a senior advisor to McKinsey, the consulting firm. He also served on many technology company boards from 1998 to the present, co-founded four firms (none of which was wildly successful), gave many speeches, wrote five books and numerous articles.
In popular culture
Hundt is referenced by Dale Gribble in Season 4, Episode 10 ("Hillenium") of ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'' as the author of a "brilliantly written op-ed piece" about
Y2K
The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...
millennium.
In an episode of the original series of
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
, Hundt is spoofed as "Reef Blundt".
Personal life
He is married to Elizabeth "Betsy" Katz. They have three children.
Books
* ''You Say You Want A Revolution: A Story of Information Age Politics'' (Yale:2000)
* ''In China's Shadow: The Crisis of American Entrepreneurship'' (Yale: 2006), as part of the
Future of American Democracy Foundation
The Future of American Democracy Foundation is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy foundation dedicated to research and education, working in partnership with the Yale University Press to clarify and analyze contemporary US domestic an ...
's Future of American Democracy Series
* ''Zero Hour: Time to Build the Clean Power Platform'' (Odyssey, 2013, ebook)
* ''The Politics of Abundance: How Technology Can Fix the Budget, Revive the American Dream and Establish Obama's Legacy'', with Blair Levin (Odyssey: 2012, ebook)
* ''A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama's Defining Decisions'' (Rosetta Books: 2019)
References
External links
*
techliberation's commentary on Frontline's public interest comment filed with the FCCgigaom commentary on Frontline and the spectrum auctionReed Hundt bio at Public Knowledge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hundt, Reed
1948 births
American chief executives
Chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission
Clinton administration commissioners
Intel people
Living people
McKinsey & Company people
People from Ann Arbor, Michigan
St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni
The Blackstone Group people
Yale College alumni
Yale Law School alumni
Clinton administration personnel