Richard Braddock

Richard Braddock

Aspen Institute Trustee, Chairman and CEO, Freshdirect

Rick Braddock began his business career in 1965, spending a number of years in product management at General Foods. He joined Citicorp in 1973, was elected to the board of directors in 1985 and was elected president and chief operating officer of Citicorp and its principal subsidiary, Citibank, N.A. in January 1990. During most of his time at the bank, he ran Citi’s highly successful global consumer business, leading the development of several major businesses, including the largest credit card business in the world and the first to deploy touch screen ATM’s, now the technology standard in several industries. He left in late November,1992.

Since then, his career has been primarily in serving in executive positions of fast-growth businesses, helping entrepreneurs scale their business models. In 1993, he became chief executive officer of Medco Containment services until its acquisition by Merck later in the year, the largest M&A transaction of the year. He served as Chairman of True North Communications Inc. from December 1997 to January of 1999. He served as chairman and CEO of Priceline from August 1998 to April 2004, taking Priceline public in 1999. He served as chairman and CEO of Fresh Direct from March, 2008, until his departure from the company in early 2011. During these years, he worked with several other companies and also alongside several venture capital and private equity firms including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, General Atlantic, and MidOcean Partners (chairman from April 2003 until December 2007).

Mr. Braddock is now Chairman or Executive Chairman of several early-stage companies: Gravy Analytics, Pypestream, and Health Connections. He is a major investor in all three, along with several other early stage companies.

Mr. Braddock serves on the boards of The Aspen Institute*, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts*, Cristo Rey Network*, and several private companies. He is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations.

(*not for profit)