Meg Whitman Officially Becomes Richest Person Living In Kenya

The United States (US) Senate on Thursday, July 14 confirmed former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICT firm Hewlett Packard (HP) Margaret Whitman as the new ambassador to Kenya.

The decision by the Senate means that the Congress has confirmed Whitman to be President Joe Biden's envoy to Nairobi.

She officially becomes the richest person living in Kenya. According to recent data by Forbes, she is estimated to be worth Ksh361 billion and is among the 1,000 richest people in the world.

Meg Whitman during a past address. /AFP

"Confirmed by voice vote: Executive Calendar #979 Margaret C. Whitman to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Kenya," stated the Senate Cloakroom on Twitter.

Whitman will report to Kenya with 24 days to go till the August 9 general elections, which will see a new President elected to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta who will go into retirement after the polls. 

She will also push for an overhaul of trade negotiations began by former President Donald Trump.

Whitman will take over from Eric Kneedler, the chargé d’affaires ad interim for Kenya since January after former ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter resigned following the change of guard at the White House. McCarter had been appointed by Trump in 2019.

She is a billionaire and longtime technology industry executive, commonly referred to by her nickname “Meg,” and spent decades in high-level corporate roles as well as in US politics.

"Margaret C. Whitman (Meg), a business executive and former candidate for Governor of California, is a Member of the Board of Procter & Gamble and General Motors, and National Board Chair at Teach for America," the White House said in a dispatch on December 9, 2021.

A graduate of Princeton, Whitman earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard and worked at several major US companies — including Proctor & Gamble and Walt Disney — before joining eBay in 1998. She was also a board member of Proctor & Gamble and General Motors and the national board chair of Teach for America.

According to US reports, Whitman, a former Republican, was a significant donor backing Democrat Biden’s campaign. She ran an unsuccessful bid for governor of California as a Republican in 2010 and endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 against Trump.

Her appointment comes at the same time Kenya signed 10 lucrative deals with the US, according to a statement by Ambassador Katherine Tai, the 19th United States Trade Representative.

The deals include Agriculture, Anti-Corruption, Digital Trade, Environment and Climate Change Action, Good Regulatory Practices, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Workers’ Rights and Protections, Supporting Participation of Women, Youth, and Others in Trade, Standards Collaboration, and Trade Facilitation and Customs Procedures.

US President Joe Biden meets with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC. /PSCU