Richard W. Fisher

Richard W. Fisher
Richard W. Fisher
Born	1949; Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Economist, business executive
Years active	1970s–present
Known for	President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (2005–2015)

Richard Welton Fisher (born 1949) previously held the roles of President and CEO at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, a tenure spanning from April 2005 until 2015. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Barclays Plc, sits on the board of PepsiCo, and contributes as a Senior Editor for CNBC. Between 2011 and 2017, he was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.

Early life

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Mexico, Fisher is a first-generation American. His father hailed from Australia, while his mother was South African with Norwegian ancestry. After completing his education at Admiral Farragut Academy in Florida, he attended the United States Naval Academy from 1967 to 1969 before transferring to Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971. Subsequently, he pursued studies in Latin American studies at Hertford College, Oxford during 1972–1973, followed by an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in 1975.

Career

Following his move to New York City, Fisher joined the Wall Street investment bank Brown Brothers, Harriman and Company, working as an assistant to former Treasury Undersecretary Robert Roosa, with a focus on fixed income and foreign exchange markets. Between 1978 and 1979, he served as Special Assistant to Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal at the United States Department of the Treasury, concentrating on issues related to the dollar crisis. After this period, he returned to Brown Brothers and was responsible for launching and managing the bank's Texas operations based in Dallas.

In 1987, Fisher established Fisher Capital Management along with Fisher Ewing Partners, overseeing both companies until 1997. In the 1993 special election for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Lloyd Bentsen, he finished fifth among 21 candidates. The next year, Fisher won the Democratic nomination for that Senate seat but was defeated in the general election by incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, with a vote split of 61% to 38%.

From 1997 through 2001, Fisher held the position of Deputy U.S. Trade Representative under Charlene Barshefsky. In this role, he managed NAFTA implementation and led trade negotiations facilitating the entry of both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization. Between 2001 and 2005, he was Vice Chairman at Kissinger McLarty Associates, a strategic advisory firm headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty. He departed this role upon his appointment as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in April 2005, remaining until 2015.

While leading the Dallas Fed, Fisher was among the first officials to raise alarms about the housing market collapse, voicing serious concerns during Federal Open Market Committee meetings in 2007. In 2013, he openly opposed Federal Reserve quantitative easing initiatives under Chair Ben Bernanke, labeling QE3 as "counterproductive" and revealing that he voted against it. After Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced a rate increase in December, Fisher criticized QE3 on CNBC, describing it as "one step too far." Additionally, he is affiliated with the Washington D.C.–based policy group, the Inter-American Dialogue.

In April 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Fisher to the Strike Force to Open Texas, which was charged with creating plans for safely reopening the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal life

Fisher was previously married to Nancy Miles Collins, who is the daughter of former U.S. Congressman James M. Collins. Together, they have four children, among them their son, the actor Miles Fisher. In July 2017, he wed Missy Bailey.

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