Brian Bulatao Explained

Brian Bulatao
Office:15th Under Secretary of State for Management
President:Donald Trump
1Namedata:Mike Pompeo
Term Start:May 17, 2019
Term End:January 20, 2021
Predecessor:Patrick F. Kennedy
Successor:John R. Bass
Birth Date:30 September 1964
Party:Republican
Education:United States Military Academy (BS)
Harvard University (MBA)
Allegiance: United States
Rank: Captain
Serviceyears:1986–1993

Brian Joseph Bulatao[1] (born 30 September 1964) is an American businessman and former government official. In 2017 he was named as Chief Operating Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency by then-agency director Mike Pompeo.[2] In June 2018, Bulatao was nominated to be Under Secretary of State for Management by President Donald Trump.[3] On May 16, 2019, Bulatao was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 92–5 vote;[4] he was sworn in the next day.

After leaving the Trump administration, he was named chief administrative officer at Activision Blizzard effective March 2021.[5] [6]

Early life and education

Bulatao was raised in Pennsylvania, one of three children of Agapito and Brenda Bulatao. His father was an immigrant from the Philippines and his mother's parents immigrated from Greece and Poland.[7]

Bulatao graduated in 1986 from the United States Military Academy at West Point,[1] where he rose to the rank of cadet captain, and was involved in white water canoeing, scuba diving, mountaineering and 150-lb. football. Nicknamed "Rambo," he was described in the 1986 Howitzer yearbook as a Renaissance man who earned the respect of all.[8] He was a classmate of Ulrich Brechbuhl and Mike Pompeo and later helped Pompeo found Thayer Aerospace.[9] Later he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.[10]

Career

Bulatao served in the US Army from 1986 to 1993, graduating from Ranger School in that time.[11] After his military service he worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company.[12] In 1997 he was one of the founders of Thayer Aerospace together with a number of other West Point graduates. Among them were his former West Point classmates Mike Pompeo and Ulrich Brechbuhl.[13] While two of the other founders left the company a short time later, Bulatao and Pompeo remained with Thayer until 2006.

Bulatao later joined Chick Packaging Inc. as its CEO, and after the company's acquisition by Nefab A/B in 2010[14] he became Executive Vice President, leading the combined operations in North and South America. Later he went into private equity, finally as a senior adviser at Highlander Partners, L.P., a Dallas-based investment firm that claims more than $1 billion in assets under management.

In 2017 when Pompeo became Director of the CIA, he brought Bulatao in as a senior advisor, then named him as Chief Operation Officer, a position that earlier was named Executive Director. In this position his priorities are the streamlining of the hiring process, taking a systematic look at the alignment of strategy, staffing, funding, and other resources; making CIA's contracting process more effective and efficient; ensuring that the Agency as a whole is positioned to invest in and lead in cutting-edge technologies; and finding innovative ways to protect CIA officers' identities and operations in the digital age.[15] [16]

In July 2018 Bulatao was nominated for the position of Under Secretary of State for Management as the successor to Patrick F. Kennedy. In May 2019 Senator Bob Menendez lifted the almost year-long hold he had placed on the confirmation as soon as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised to send to the Senate documentation relating to allegations that "Trump administration political appointees at the State Department had sought to remove or reassign career employees who were seen as hostile to Trump’s agenda." During the nomination hearings, Bulatao said that if he were confirmed, he would not tolerate "political litmus tests" in the department.[17] [18]

In March 2021, Bulatao joined Activision Blizzard as Chief Administrative Officer and oversees the Call of Duty Endowment in addition to administrative actions including Corporate Social Responsibility activities across Activision Blizzard.[19]

Personal

Bulatao was married and has a son and daughter.[7] [20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brian Joseph Bulatao. West Point Association of Graduates. 2018-06-19.
  2. News: Windrem . Robert . 27 April 2017 . CIA's New "Mayor" Comes From Finance Firm, Not Intelligence World . en . . 2018-03-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170428100300/https://www.nbcnews.com/card/cia-s-new-number-three-comes-finance-not-intelligence-world-n752211 . 28 April 2017.
  3. Web site: Seventeen Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate Today. 18 June 2018. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. 2018-06-19.
  4. Web site: 16 May 2019 . U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 116th Congress - 1st Session . https://web.archive.org/web/20220218191923/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1161/vote_116_1_00115.htm . 18 February 2022 . United States Senate.
  5. Web site: Brian Bulatao . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418230428/https://www.activisionblizzard.com/leadership/brian-bulatao . 18 April 2021 . 2021-07-26 . . en.
  6. Web site: Grayson . Nathon . 30 March 2021 . Activision Blizzard Hires Former Trump Administration Member Once Decried As 'Bully' . https://web.archive.org/web/20210330040641/https://kotaku.com/activision-blizzard-hires-former-trump-administration-m-1846579115 . 30 March 2021 . 2021-07-26 . . en-us.
  7. Web site: Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, "Statement of Brian Bulatao," . 18 July 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20220109051615/https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/071818_Bulatao_Testimony.pdf . 9 January 2022.
  8. U.S.M.A. Howitzer Yearbook 1986, "Brian Joseph Bulatao," p. 436
  9. News: Toosi . Nahal . August 20, 2018 . Pompeo's inner circle heavy on business, military experience . . Arlington VA . September 27, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180821004228/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/20/pompeo-state-inner-circle-789827 . August 21, 2018.
  10. Web site: LEADING AT STATE. alumni.hbs.edu. 15 June 2021.
  11. Web site: 40 Under 40 — Brian Bulatao . Wichita Business Journal . 4 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140814032636/https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/feature/40under40/brian-bulatao.html . 14 August 2014 . 12 July 2013.
  12. Web site: Brian Bulatao . LinkedIn.
  13. Web site: Dinell . David . 13 December 1998 . Army buddies team to fight on Air Capital business front . https://web.archive.org/web/20140516023111/https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/1998/12/14/story3.html . 16 May 2014 . 2022-08-04 . Wichita Business Journal.
  14. Web site: Nefab Acquires Chick Packaging . NEFAB . 4 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180315070634/https://www.nefab.com/en/northamerica/news/nefab-acquires-chick-packaging/ . 15 March 2018 . 15 September 2010.
  15. Web site: Syeed . Nafeesa . 19 April 2008 . The CIA Is Getting a Private-Sector Makeover . https://web.archive.org/web/20180822172126/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-19/pompeo-s-old-friend-bulatao-has-a-business-lesson-for-cia-spies . 22 August 2018 . Bloomberg.
  16. Web site: CIA Chief Operating Officer Speaks to Annuitants at Central Intelligence Retiree Association (CIRA) Event . . 4 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180314154807/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2018-press-releases-statements/cia-coo-speaks-at-cira-event.html . 14 March 2018 . 9 March 2018.
  17. Web site: Wadhams . Nick . Flatley . Daniel . 2 May 2019 . Menendez Drops Hold on Pompeo Friend for State Department Post . https://web.archive.org/web/20190502205831/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-02/menendez-hold-brian-bulatao . 2 May 2019 . Bloomberg.
  18. Web site: Wilkinson . Tracy . 26 April 2019 . In his first year, Pompeo brought 'swagger' but made little progress on foreign policy priorities . https://web.archive.org/web/20190426200423/https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-pompeo-profile-state-department-anniversary-swagger-morale-religion-20190427-story.html . 26 April 2019 . Los Angeles Times.
  19. Web site: Brian Bulatao. 5 December 2022. activisionblizzard.com.
  20. Web site: 22 February 2015 . BORGES, RANDALL . https://web.archive.org/web/20191005190731/https://richmond.com/obituaries/borges-randall/article_14e0acfa-dc08-5621-bdf9-ba9e173ac41d.html . 5 October 2019 . Richmond Times-Dispatch.