Adam Boehler
United States Special Envoy for Hostage Response (more details) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adam Seth Boehler (/ˈboʊlər/ born June 23, 1979) is an American businessman and government official.
Adam Boehler | |
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| CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation | |
| In office October 1, 2019 – January 20, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | David Bohigian (acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) |
| Succeeded by | Scott Nathan |
| Director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation | |
| In office April 2018 – October 2019 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Patrick Conway |
| Succeeded by | Brad Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Adam Seth Boehler June 23, 1979 Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Shira Boehler |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BS) |
Boehler is the managing partner and founder of Rubicon Founders, a health care investment firm based in Nashville. He is also the founder of Landmark Health.
He previously served as the first chief executive officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation from 2019 to 2021, the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, as well as Senior Advisor for Value-based Transformation for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He joined CMS in April 2018.[1][2]
On April 4, 2025, President Trump appointed him as special envoy for hostage response to oversee cases of U.S. nationals detained abroad under concerning circumstances, including those with health or humanitarian issues, unjustly detained foreign nationals supported by the U.S., and detentions posing national security concerns. Boehler will coordinate with government agencies, report to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and serve as a special government employee until September 2025, unless extended.
Early life and education
Boehler was born in Albany, New York, on June 23, 1979 to a Jewish family.[3] Boehler's father is a physician. Boehler graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2000.[4] He was a summer college roommate of Jared Kushner, with whom he would later work on a team coordinating tests for COVID-19.[5] During college, Boehler worked for a summer at the Financial and Fiscal Commission, a government agency managed by the Parliament of South Africa.[6]
Early career
Boehler started his career at Battery Ventures, a technology venture capital firm that focuses on investments in software and emerging technologies.[7] Boehler was also an operating partner at Francisco Partners, a global private equity firm based in San Francisco focusing on healthcare. Boehler founded and was Chairman of Avalon Health Solutions, a provider of laboratory benefit management services.[8]
Previously, Boehler was the founder and chief executive officer of Accumen, a provider of laboratory management services to health systems.[9][10] Prior to joining CMS, Boehler was founder and chief executive officer of Landmark Health, the largest provider of home-based medical care in the country.[11] United Health Group purchased Landmark for $3.5 billion in 2021.[12]
US government (2018–2021)
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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
Boehler was appointed Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in April 2018.[13] While at HHS, Boehler also served as Senior Advisor for Value-based Transformation to Secretary Alex Azar.
During his tenure at CMMI, Boehler launched 16 payment models[14] designed to speed the transformation of US Health Care to value based payments instead of fee for service.[15] He launched a series of models focused on empowering primary care physicians[16] as well as transforming kidney care across the United States.[17]
During the COVID crisis, Boehler led teams focused on expanding testing, sourcing critical PPE, and ensuring that there were sufficient ventilators for the United States population (and ultimately helping emerging countries in need). Boehler was a founding board member of Operation Warp Speed. On May 14, 2020, the president of the United States signed an executive order delegating Defense Production Act authorities to Boehler, underwriting the production of various vaccines under consideration in advance of the Food and Drug Administration's approval to expand domestic vaccine supply.[18][19]
International Development Finance Corporation
On July 10, 2019, the president of the United States announced his intent to nominate Boehler for the position of chief executive officer of the newly formed U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a government agency formed through the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act as a consolidation of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Development Credit Authority of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) into one entity.[20][21] The nomination was received by the Senate on July 22, 2019, and confirmed unanimously by voice vote on September 26, 2019.[22]
Under his tenure at the DFC, Boehler helped draft an executive order in response to COVID-19 that expanded the DFC to domestic projects—a break from its congressional mandate, which focused on funding projects in the developing world.[23][24] The DFC's first domestic loan was a $765 million loan to Kodak intended to transform the photography company into a pharmaceutical company. An investigation by the DFC Office of Inspector General found no evidence that DFC staff had conflicts of interest regarding the loan, and found no "evidence of misconduct on the part of DFC officials."[24]
Three Seas Initiative
The DFC under Boehler publicly advocated for and invested $300 million in the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund to bolster the energy security of East European countries and counter Russian influence.[25][26][27]
Serbia/Kosovo
Under Boehler, the DFC and EXIM signed letters of interest with Serbia and Kosovo to help finance projects identified under a U.S. brokered agreement to advance economic cooperation and development between Kosovo and Serbia. Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo prime minister Avdullah Hoti signed the agreement on September 4, 2020, in Washington.[28]
Afghanistan
Boehler accompanied Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to negotiate with the Taliban in a series of meetings held in Qatar touting the possibility of joint investment in Afghanistan through the Qatar Fund for Development, and promoting a commitment to peace to prioritize Afghanistan's economic growth.[29][30][31]
Southeast Asia
Boehler met with heads of state in Vietnam[32] and Indonesia[33][34] to discuss investments in energy and infrastructure. He led the last US delegation to meet with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi prior to her arrest and imprisonment by the Myanmar military on February 1, 2021. [35]
Among the first equity investments made by the DFC were a $54 million investment in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund,[36] a direct investment in the Indian e-commerce fresh produce startup FreshToHome,[37] and over $200 million in solar power.[38]
South America and Latin America
Boehler met with leaders of countries across the region, including the Caribbean,[39] Colombia,[40] Ecuador,[41][42] El Salvador,[43] Guatemala,[44][45] Honduras,[46][47][48] and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.[49] DFC's 2020 annual report indicated loans to women-owned or led small-medium enterprises of approximately $1 billion across Latin America.[50]
Colombian president Iván Duque and Boehler drafted an economic plan addressing the growth of cocaine farming in Colombia.[51][52][53] The DFC reported investments of over $1 billion in more than 30 projects in Colombia across infrastructure and financial sectors in late 2020.[54]
Countering China's Belt & Road
Ecuador
Boehler led negotiations with Ecuadorean president Lenín Moreno resulting in a $3.5 billion lending agreement enabling prepayment of loans to China, in exchange for Ecuador excluding Chinese telecoms services and equipment providers from its 5G telecommunications networks.[55][56]
Greece
In July 2020, the DFC-backed Onex Group signed an agreement "in principle" to take over management of Elefsis Shipyards, the second largest in Greece.[57] Shipyard investing efforts started by Boehler in Greece to counter China's BRI continued following his tenure.[58][59][60]
Africa
Boehler met in November 2019 with Ethiopia's prime minister, president, and finance ministers to discuss support of reform initiatives on the nation's developmental goals.[61][62][63] Through the Atlantic Council, the DFC engaged with various African presidents presenting as an alternative source to China BRI funding.[64]
Abraham Accords
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Boehler was part of several delegations that traveled in 2020 and 2021 with Jared Kushner to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar that ultimately resulted in the Abraham Accords,[65][66] as well as the agreement to resolve the Gulf Rift.[67][68][69] Boehler was part of a high-level delegation to Israel and Morocco to discuss the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement,[70][71] as well as a delegation in October 2020 with Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin to Israel, Bahrain, and UAE to discuss economic cooperation under the Abraham Accords.[72]
Post-government career
In 2021, Boehler started a health-care investment firm, Rubicon Founders, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The firm is focused on senior living and genomics.[73] He is a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council[74][75] and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council.
Second Trump administration (2025–)
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On 4 December 2024, US president Donald Trump nominated Boehler to serve as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.[76] In January 2025, Boehler led direct negotiations in Qatar with Hamas representatives to secure the release of the last hostages taken by the organization during the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.[77] According to a report in the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu denied and called "fake news", Prime Minister Netanyahu and his point man on the talks, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, leaked that Boehler held talks with Hamas aimed at securing an interim deal to release American captives. IDF’s Unit 8200 signals intelligence unit reportedly learned of the direct talks.[78] Boehler defended his direct talks with Hamas.[79][80][81]
On 15 March 2025, Boehler withdrew his nomination to be SPEHA. The White House stated that Boehler would continue to work with the administration on hostage affairs as a special government employee.
Adam Boehler successfully negotiated the release of Marc Fogel, an American school teacher detained in Russia on drug charges since August 2021, marking a significant achievement in securing the freedom of a U.S. citizen held abroad. Through diplomatic efforts finalized by February 2025, Boehler facilitated Fogel’s return home, part of broader negotiations that also freed other detainees. His work ensured Fogel, sentenced to 14 years and suffering from health issues, was reunited with his family after years of captivity.
Adam Boehler, serving as U.S. special envoy for hostage response, successfully negotiated the release of U.S. citizen George Glezmann, a Delta Airlines mechanic detained by the Taliban for over two years, following high-level talks with Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul in March 2025. Facilitated by Qatari mediators, Boehler's diplomatic efforts culminated in Glezmann's release as a "goodwill gesture" by the Taliban, allowing him to return home to his wife, Aleksandra, marking a significant achievement in Boehler's mandate to secure the freedom of Americans detained abroad.
President Trump expanded the portfolio of his adviser Adam Boehler and appointed him as Special Envoy for Hostage Response, according to a notification sent to Congress on April 4, 2025. Boehler will work with all relevant government agencies "to ensure that all U.S. nationals held abroad under concerning circumstances are given focused attention by the U.S Government and appropriately resolved," the notification says.
Days later, Boehler was removed from the negotiations,[82][83][84] but he continued to assist Steve Witkoff’s efforts to secure the release of hostages from Gaza.[85][86][87]
The role gives him a broader mandate to work on the cases of all U.S. nationals "whose detention gives rise to concerns about their health or presents extenuating or humanitarian circumstances that merit their release, unjustly detained foreign nationals whose release the United States is uniquely placed to support, and other cases of detained U.S. nationals where the detention creates a national security concern for the United States."
Adam Boehler played a key role in securing the release of Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.–Russian citizen and former ballerina, who was freed from a Russian prison on April 10, 2025, as part of a prisoner swap with the United States. Karelina, arrested in Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and sentenced to 12 years for treason over a $51.80 donation to a U.S.-based charity aiding Ukraine, was exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German national detained in the U.S. for smuggling sensitive microelectronics. Boehler’s diplomatic efforts, including direct communication with Karelina, ensured her safe return to the U.S., where she reunited with her fiancé, Chris van Heerden, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
At least 26 American hostages have been released since President Trump was sworn into office to serve his second term on January 20, 2025.
On 15 March 2025, Boehler withdrew his nomination to be SPEHA. The White House stated that Boehler would continue to work with the administration on hostage affairs as a special government employee.[88]
Boehler will coordinate across agencies on hostage issues and report to Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He will serve in the expanded role as a special government employee until September 2025, unless extended.
Personal life
Boehler currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Shira, and their four children.[89] Boehler formerly resided in New Orleans.[10]
References
External links
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