Business Career
Early in his career, Snyder gained experience in business finance. Eventually, he would serve as a high tech industry executive chairman of the board. He also co-founded a venture capital company and served as its chairman and chief executive officer prior to his election as governor of Michigan in 2010. 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. In 1989, Snyder was named partner-in-charge of the mergers and acquisitions practice in the Chicago office.
Snyder joined the computer company Gateway, based in Irvine, California, in 1991 as the executive vice president, served as president and chief operating officer from 1996 to 1997, and remained on the board of directors until 2007. 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, an investment firm, in 2000, becoming chairman and chief executive officer.
From 2005 to 2007, Snyder served as the chairman of the board of Gateway. 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 has stated 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.
Ardesta LLC was founded by Snyder and three co-founders in 2000 and has invested in 20 start-up companies to date. Snyder also serves on the boards of the U.S. National Historic Landmark Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and several boards associated with the University of Michigan.
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