Gordon Sondland Biography | Who Is Gordon Sondland?
Gordon Sondland is the United States Ambassador to the European Union. He is also the founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels, co-founder of the merchant bank Aspen Capital. He was a major donor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Sondland has also pledged to work with the EU to address global security threats. He has been the Trump Administration’s lead in talks with EU member countries on the U.S.’s decertification and withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Sondland has repeatedly criticized EU member countries’ creation of a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) to bypass reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran, calling the SPV a “paper tiger.” Sondland has also been a vocal opponent of the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would transport gas across the Baltic Sea to the EU.
He has argued that the pipeline would leave the EU dependent upon Russia for its energy needs and increase Russia’s leverage on key U.S. allies in NATO. Sondland argued that “Putin uses energy as a political weapon. The EU should not rely on a bare-chested version of the Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort as a supplier, even if his gas is a bit cheaper.” Sondland has also worked on data protection rules regarding U.S. compliance with the EU-US privacy shield.
Gordon Sondland Age
When it comes to his age, Gordon was born as Gordon D. Sondland 1957 in Seattle, Washington, United States. His nationality is American.
Gordon Sondland Religion | Gordon Sondland Israel
He belongs to White ethnicity and he is Jewish. Sondland has described himself as being “of the Jewish faith” and, as ambassador, expressed his support for Israel on Twitter several times, visiting the Jewish state last May.
Gordon Sondland Family | Gordon Sondland Parents
The famous ambassador is the son of the son of Frieda (Piepsch) and Gunther Sondland. Sondland was raised in a normal family as his parents went through great hardships for the survival of the family. His father even fought the Nazis in the French Foreign Legion and British Army.
Eventually, the family moved to Uruguay and then settled at Seattle, Washington. His parents married in Germany when his mother was 15 and then fled to escape the Holocaust. His dad had been a fur trader, but that business didn’t really exist in Seattle. Both his parents went to Seattle Community College for a year.
While there they learned the dry-cleaning business, his mother said in a University of Washington oral history project. They bought a West Seattle dry cleaner and ran Fauntleroy Cleaners until they retired in their 70s. The family was “lower middle class,” Sondland said in the 2016 interview but lived amid great wealth on Mercer Island.
Gordon Sondland Education | Gordon Sondland College | Gordon Sondland High School
Sondland attended the University of Washington and graduated with a degree in B.A. Sondland is a 1975 graduate of Mercer Island High School
Gordon Sondland Net Worth | Gordon Sondland Wealth
Sondland’s net worth is estimated to be at least $60 million. His fortune was developed in large part through the hotel industry on the west coast, especially in Portland, Oregon.
Gordon Sondland Wife
Moving on to his love life, Gordon is married to Katherine Durant. She also is the founder and managing partner of Atlas/RTG, a holding company with a portfolio of shopping centers throughout Oregon. Until 2016, Durant was the Chairperson of the Oregon Investment Council, the body that oversees the over $85 billion Public Employees Retirement System Fund. In January 2018, Sondland and Durant were featured as the “January Power Couple” in Oregon Business.
Gordon Sondland Daughter | Gordon Sondland Children
Moreover, Gordon and his wife are blessed with two children son Max and daughter Lucy. His mother, after traveling to Eastern Europe, found refuge in Uruguay. Six years later they reunited as U.S. immigrants in Seattle where his father saw his daughter for the first time at age 6.
Gordon Sondland Texts | Gordon Sondland Testimony | Gordon Sondland Hearing
The ambassador is expected to tell Congress that his text message reassuring another envoy there was no quid pro quo in their interactions with Ukraine was based solely on what he was told by President Donald Trump.
That’s according to a person familiar with the upcoming House impeachment testimony by Trump’s European Union ambassador.
Sondland is set to tell House committees on Thursday that he did understand the Trump administration was offering Ukraine’s president a White House visit in exchange for a public statement by Ukraine committing to investigations Trump wanted. That word comes from a person who wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the testimony and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
But Sondland will say his text wasn’t based on any direct knowledge and he didn’t know the company being discussed for an investigation was tied to Joe Biden’s son.
Gordon Sondland And Ukraine
On September 26, 2019, the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released the unclassified text of the whistleblower complaint regarding the interactions between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In this document, Ambassador Sondland, along with the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, Ambassador Kurt Volker, was described as having “provided advice to the Ukrainian leadership about how to ‘navigate’ the demands that the President had made of Mr. Zelenskyy”.
In the complaint released by the US Select committee on Intelligence, Sondland’s involvement in President Donald Trump’s alleged criminal activity was outlined:
[9/9/19, 12:47:11 AM] Bill Taylor: As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.
[9/9/19, 5:19:35 AM] Gordon Sondland: Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign I suggest we stop the back and forth by text If you still have concerns I recommend you give Lisa Kenna or S a call to discuss them directly. Thanks.
After further investigation, The Washington Post concluded that Sondland had “seized control of the Ukraine portfolio to help Trump.”
On October 8, the Trump administration attempted to block Sondland from testifying in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
Gordon Sondland Home Renovation
U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, a major figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, is reportedly overseeing a taxpayer-funded $1 million renovation of his government-provided residence in Brussels. According to The Washington Post, the renovations.
This includes kitchen improvements worth more than $400,000, a $30,000 sound system, a $95,000 outdoor “living pod,” and $33,000 worth of handmade furniture from Italy. The State Department also allocated over $100,000 for Sondland’s other living accommodations while the renovations are underway. Some of Sondland’s colleagues told the Post he became disappointed with his accommodations shortly after arriving in Brussels and tried to move into a new residence altogether before proposing the renovations.
Gordon Sondland Donald Trump | Gordon Sondland Appointment
Sondland donated $1 million to the inaugural committee of Donald Trump. On March 12, 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump selected Sondland to be the next United States ambassador to the European Union. On May 10, 2018, the White House announced that Sondland’s nomination had been sent to the U.S. Senate. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 28, 2018. On July 9, 2018, Sondland presented his credentials at the European Commission and to President of the European Council Donald Tusk.
Gordon Sondland And Katherine J. Durant Foundation | Gordon Sondland Duke University | Gordon Sondland Donation
Sondland founded the Gordon Sondland and Katherine J. Durant Foundation in 1999, which was established to “help families and boost communities”. The Foundation has given millions of dollars to various non-profits including $1,000,000 to the Portland Art Museum to endow permanent access for children under the age of eighteen. The Foundation helped establish a Distinguished Chair in Spine for pediatric orthopedic spine research at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in 2012.
In 2012, the Foundation used the proceeds from the auction of a 2009 Ford F-150 that was previously owned by former President George W. Bush for a donation to the Fisher House Foundation. Sondland is also a National Finance Co-Chairman of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
Sondland and the Foundation partnered with the River Club in 2013 to provide breakfast for the foreseeable future for students of the Simonga Basic School in Zambia. In 2014, the Foundation gave a $1,000,000 endowment to Oregon Health & Science University to establish the Sondland-Durant Distinguished Research Conference, a cancer research summit to begin in 2016. In 2017, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Duke University was created with the support of the Foundation.
Gordon Sondland Hotels
Sondland’s company, Provenance Hotels, owns and manages hotels throughout the United States, including the Hotel Max and Hotel Theodore in Seattle, Washington; Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Washington; Hotel deLuxe, Hotel Lucia, Sentinel, Dossier, and Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon; The Hotel Preston in Nashville, Tennessee; and Old No. 77 Hotel and Chandlery in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 1998, Sondland purchased and redeveloped four hotels in Seattle, Portland, and Denver including Seattle’s Alexis Hotel in partnership with Bill Kimpton. Sondland also is a principal in Seattle’s Paramount Hotel. Through Provenance Hotels, Sondland is developing hotel projects throughout the US, including in Seattle, Hermosa Beach, CA and Los Angeles, CA.
Provenance Hotels specializes in adaptations of old buildings such as with the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, WA, which used to be a conference Sheraton, but now includes glass art by 46 artists including Seattle’s Dale Chihuly. Provenance is also known for designing or remodeling each hotel around themes that contain elements that relate to a location’s history, art, culture, and local businesses.
In 2013, Sondland and Provenance completed a renovation of Portland’s historic Governor Hotel, renaming it Sentinel. In December 2015, Sondland and Provenance announced the establishment of the company’s first real estate investment fund, Provenance Hotel Partners Fund I.
The $525 million funds were created specifically for hotel real estate investment and, at the time of its announcement, was the fourth largest fund ever launched in the state of Oregon. In 2017, Provenance Hotels expanded its practice of revitalizing and rebranding hotels with locally-inspired art and design as a service to other hoteliers.
Gordon Sondland Contact | Gordon Sondland Email
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