Douglass, William A. – Commonwealth of the Bahamas – May 2020

REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

UNITED STATES SENATE

SUBJECT:           Ambassadorial Nomination:  Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)

POST:                 The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

CANDIDATE:     William A. Douglass

William Douglass is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded, and managed K2 Advisors from 1994 until his retirement in 2015.   Mr. Douglass remained a Senior Advisor and board member until 2017.  Mr. Douglass sold K2 Advisors to Franklin Templeton Investments in 2012 after building its holdings from $5.4 million in 1994 to nearly $11 billion today.   K2 maintained offices around the world and is one of the most well-known and reputable firms investing in hedge funds in the world.  Earlier Mr. Douglass was Managing Director of Caspian Securities LLC and he was also a managing director for Tiedemann International Research for whom he first managed their office in Tokyo Japan and then co-managed their US business in New York.  He began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette in 1984.   He has served on multiple non-profit boards, including those of the Jazz Foundation of America, Citysquash, Inc, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Outward Bound USA.

Over the years he has not only lived in the Bahamas but has also been engaged there as a philanthropist and has developed a keen understanding of its culture, society, and economy.  His relationships with senior Bahamian officials, businessmen, and political leaders, as well as his familiarity with the nation’s major foreign investors and their issues, will amplify his effectiveness in advancing U.S. interests and building strong partnerships.  When coupled with his demonstrated ability to build and lead a dynamic organization and his robust knowledge of complex international financial and investment issues, he is a well-qualified candidate to be Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Mr. Douglass received his B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University.  He is the recipient of a number of honors including recognition as Entrepreneur of the Year from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (2004), the Dr. Billy Taylor Humanitarian Award, from The Jazz Foundation (2008) and the Patron Saint of Jazz Award (2009).