Rick Snyder

Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, began his career in business in 1982. He was chairman of the board of Gateway from 2005 to 2007, a co-founder of Ardesta, LLC, a venture capital firm, HealthMedia, Inc., a digital health coaching company, and is currently CEO of SensCy, a cybersecurity company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A member of the Republican Party, he won the 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election and won reelection in 2014. Snyder was term-limited and could not seek re-election in 2018 and was succeeded by Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Snyder was considered a possible Republican Party candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2012, although ultimately Paul Ryan was selected. In 2014, Snyder gained national attention during the Flint water crisis, in which he was accused of mishandling the situation that exposed 6,000 to 12,000 Flint children to lead. A report by the University of Michigan School of Public Health concluded Snyder "bears significant legal responsibility" for the Flint water crisis. In 2020, an article was published in Vice detailing evidence of corruption and a cover-up by Snyder, including details of how he was warned repeatedly about the dangerous effects of the decisions he had made about the water supply to the city of Flint. In January 2021, Snyder was among those charged for his role in the crisis; he pled not guilty to two misdemeanor charges. In December 2022 Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm dismissed the charges.