Thomas Joseph Barrack Jr. is a Lebanese-American billionaire businessman, born in Culver City, California, to parents of Lebanese descent; his grandparents were Lebanese Christians who immigrated from Zahlé, Lebanon. He is a longtime close friend, ally, and fundraiser for Donald Trump, having chaired Trump's 2017 inaugural committee. Barrack earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California in 1969, where he was a star rugby player on the national championship team, and later edited the Southern California Law Review before receiving a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1972. His early career included work at the law firm of Herbert W. Kalmbach, Richard Nixon's personal attorney, and in Saudi Arabia for Fluor Corporation, where he developed ties to Saudi royalty, learned Arabic, and facilitated diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Haiti. He served as Deputy Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior under James G. Watt during the Reagan administration in 1982 but grew disillusioned with government service. In 1990, he founded Colony Capital (later DigitalBridge), a global private equity firm managing billions in assets, with investments in distressed properties worldwide, including Neverland Ranch, and extensive business ties to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. He has held board positions at companies like Continental Airlines, Accor, and First Republic Bank, and received honors such as France's Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 2021, Barrack was indicted for allegedly acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE but was acquitted in 2022. In Donald Trump's second administration, he was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey in April 2025 and appointed Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq.