{{Short description|American diplomat, executive, author, and military officer (born 1977)}} {{Use American English|date=October 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Nate Fick | image = Nathaniel C. Fick, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|6|23|mf=yes}} | death_date = | birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | death_place = | office = 1st Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy | president = Joe Biden | term_start = September 21, 2022 | term_end = January 20, 2025 | predecessor = Position established | successor = | allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1960}} | branch = {{Marines|United States}} | service_years = 1999–2003 | rank = {{Dodseal|USMCO3|25}} Captain | commands = Weapons Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines<br />2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion | battles = {{Tree list}} * International Force East Timor * Global War on Terrorism ** War in Afghanistan ** Iraq War{{Tree list/end}} | education = Dartmouth College (BA)<br>Harvard University (MPA, MBA) }} '''Nathaniel Charles Fick'''<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2007-10-14 |title=Margaret Angell, Nathaniel Fick |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/fashion/weddings/14angell.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240728185153/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/fashion/weddings/14angell.html |archive-date=28 July 2024 |access-date=2026-02-09 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (born June 23, 1977) is an investor and technology executive, a former<ref name=":1" /> American diplomat, an author, and a former United States Marine Corps officer. He is the Chief Strategy Officer for Equities at Cerberus Capital Management.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-03 |title=Cerberus Appoints Former U.S. Ambassador Nate Fick as Chief Strategy Officer for Equities |url=https://www.cerberus.com/media/cerberus-appoints-former-u-s-ambassador-nate-fick-as-chief-strategy-officer-for-equities/ |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Cerberus Capital Management |language=en-US}}</ref> He was the CEO of cybersecurity software company Endgame, Inc., then worked for Elastic NV after it acquired Endgame. He was an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. In 2022, he was selected to lead the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. He left the position in 2025.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=POLITICO Pro: US cyber ambassador Nathaniel Fick to step down Jan. 20 |url=https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/01/us-cyber-ambassador-nathaniel-fick-to-step-down-jan-20-00196681 |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=subscriber.politicopro.com |language=en}}</ref>
Fick is the author of ''One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer'', a memoir of his military experience published in 2005 that was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, one of ''The Washington Post''{{'}}s "Best Books of the Year", and one of the ''Military Times''{{'}} "Best Military Books of the Decade". Fick was portrayed by actor Stark Sands in the HBO miniseries ''Generation'' ''Kill''.
==Early life and education== Fick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1977, to Nathaniel Crow Fick Jr, a lawyer that ran a private practice and Jane Ella Fick (Née Stimola) a social worker.<ref name=":2" /> He was the first of three siblings having two sisters Maureen Poydras, a lawyer who went into private practice with their father, and Stephanie Noelle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nathaniel Fick Jr. Obituary - Timonium, MD |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/timonium-md/nathaniel-fick-jr-11538631 |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Dignity Memorial |language=en-us}}</ref> Fick attended Loyola Blakefield high school in Towson, Maryland. Fick went on to attend Dartmouth College.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 8, 2005 |title=Standing down |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2005-11-08-0511080020-story.html |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=Baltimore Sun}}</ref> He later graduated with degrees in classics and government in 1999. While at Dartmouth, Fick captained the cycling team to a U.S. National Championship and wrote a senior thesis on Thucydides' ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' and its implications for American foreign policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.o-a-inc.com/bk_onebullet5.html |title=About the Author |author= |date= |publisher=Oettinger & Associates |accessdate=March 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002633/http://www.o-a-inc.com/bk_onebullet5.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After leaving the Marine Corps, Fick earned both an MPA and MBA from Harvard University.
==Career== In 1998, after his junior year at Dartmouth, Fick attended the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School and was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduating from college on June 12, 1999.<ref name="Fang">[https://web.archive.org/web/20121006232916/https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060109/9qa.htm A 'Reluctant Warrior' in Iraq] U.S. News & World Report via Internet Archive. Published January 1, 2006. Archived October 6, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2023.</ref>
Fick was trained as an infantry officer and was eventually assigned as a platoon commander to 1st Battalion 1st Marines. He was an officer in the Amphibious Ready Group of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Darwin, Northern Territory, training with the Australian Army for humanitarian operations deployment to East Timor until the September 11 attacks. He then led his platoon into Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom to support the war on terror. Upon his return to the United States in March 2002, he was recommended for Marine reconnaissance training. He also completed Army Airborne School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://o-a-inc.com/bk_onebullet4.html |title=Untitled Document |website=o-a-inc.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610214944/http://o-a-inc.com/bk_onebullet4.html |archive-date=10 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He subsequently led Second Platoon of Bravo Company of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Fick left the U.S. Marine Corps as a captain in December 2003,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abebooks.com/docs/authors-corner/nathaniel-fick.shtml |title=Nathaniel Fick |publisher=Abebooks |date= |accessdate=2014-08-06 |archive-date=2016-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026200107/http://www.abebooks.com/docs/authors-corner/nathaniel-fick.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> and used the GI Bill to attend Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. He came to public notice for his writing on military life and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.<ref name="Fang" /> His memoir ''One Bullet Away'' was a New York Times bestseller, one of The Washington Post's "Best Books of the Year," and won the Colby Award in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/books/review/20cave.html|title=Few and Proud|first1=Damien|last1=Cave|date=2005-11-20|accessdate=2014-11-20|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/one-bullet-away-the-making-of-a-marine-officer-by-nathaniel-fick-471567.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206030448/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/one-bullet-away-the-making-of-a-marine-officer-by-nathaniel-fick-471567.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 6, 2014|title=One Bullet Away: the making of a Marine officer by Nathaniel Fick|first1=Mark|last1=Simpson|date=2006-03-26|work=The Independent|accessdate=2014-11-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/nathaniel-fick-one-bullet-away|title=Nathaniel Fick: "One Bullet Away"|date=2005-11-11|access-date=2014-11-20|publisher=PBS|first1=Jeffrey|last1=Brown}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tawanifoundation.org/colby/|title=Tawani Foundation - Colby Award|publisher=|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113344/http://www.tawanifoundation.org/colby/|archivedate=2015-09-24}}</ref>
Fick became the chief operating officer (COO) at the Center for a New American Security in 2008 and later was appointed CEO in June 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnas.org/fick|title=Nathaniel C. Fick|publisher=Center for a New American Security|accessdate=March 23, 2012|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322113925/http://www.cnas.org/fick|archivedate=March 22, 2012}}</ref>
He was elected to Dartmouth College's board of trustees in April 2012 and served for eight years.<ref name="dartmouth.edu">{{cite web |title=Nathaniel C. Fick '99 |date=10 July 2023 |url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~trustees/biographies/fick.html |publisher=}}</ref>
Fick served as the CEO of cybersecurity software company Endgame from 2012 through its acquisition by search company Elastic in 2019, when he became the general manager of Elastic's information security business globally.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-06-01 |title=Former Marine, cyber exec Nate Fick selected as State's inaugural cyber ambassador |url=https://www.cyberscoop.com/former-marine-cyber-exec-fick-state-cyber-ambassador/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=CyberScoop |language=en}}</ref> He was recognized in 2018 by ''Fast Company'' magazine as one of the "Most Creative People in Business."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/person/nate-fick|title=Meet Nate Fick, one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People 2018|website=Fast Company}}</ref>
He testified before the United States Senate on Iraq<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_J9stsmPFo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/1_J9stsmPFo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Nate Fick at DPC Hearing in Chicago |author= |date=October 12, 2006 |publisher=YouTube |accessdate=March 23, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and spoke at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver on August 28, 2008, the night Barack Obama accepted the presidential nomination.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
He has served on the Military & Veterans Advisory Council at JPMorgan Chase & Co.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JPMorgan Chase Appoints Jill Biden to Military and Veterans Affairs External Advisory Council |url=https://www.jpmorganchase.com/news-stories/jill-biden-appointed-to-mva-external-advisory-council |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=www.jpmorganchase.com |language=en}}</ref>
===Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace & Digital Policy=== thumb|Fick sworn in as Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy in 2022 On June 3, 2022, Fick was nominated as the U.S. State Department’s first Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, leading U.S. diplomacy on cybersecurity, digital, and emerging technology issues.<ref name="WHBio">{{cite web |title=President Biden Announces Key Nominees |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/03/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-18/ |website=The White House |access-date=28 June 2022 |date=3 June 2022}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on August 3, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on September 14. The full Senate confirmed Fick's nomination on September 15 by voice vote,<ref>{{cite web |title=PN2223 - Nomination of Nathaniel Fick for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/2223 |website=www.congress.gov |access-date=28 June 2022 |date=7 June 2022}}</ref> and he was sworn in on September 21.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/biographies/nathaniel-c-fick/ |title=Nathaniel C. Fick |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=2022-09-22}}</ref>
On February 4, 2023, Fick announced that his personal Twitter account had been hacked. He called the incident one of the "perils of the job". It was unclear who hacked the account or if any unauthorized tweets were being sent from the account.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lyngaas |first=Sean |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/nate-fick-twitter-hack-cybersecurity/index.html |title=America's top cyber diplomat says his Twitter account was hacked |work=CNN |date=2023-02-05 |accessdate=2023-02-08 }}</ref>
He led U.S. delegations in venues around the world focused on A.I. governance, following the release of ChatGPT.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Politico Staff |first=Politico Staff |date=March 26, 2024 |title=Inside the Global Battle for AI |website=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2024/03/26/inside-the-global-battle-for-ai-00149120 }}</ref> In November 2023, Ambassador Fick testified before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. diplomacy in support of the responsible governance of artificial intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Department and Cyber Officials Testify on Artificial Intelligence and U.S. Competitiveness {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?531883-1/state-department-cyber-officials-testify-artificial-intelligence-us-competitiveness |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=www.c-span.org}}</ref>
In February 2024, he traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine with Director Jen Easterly of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to reaffirm American support for Ukraine's digital defense even as the U.S. Congress delayed funding the supplemental appropriation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=US will continue providing cyber aid to Ukraine, says cyber ambassador |url=https://therecord.media/us-cyber-ambassador-fick-cyber-aid-to-ukraine-kyiv |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=therecord.media}}</ref> They held a [https://www.gmfus.org/event/global-dimension-ukraines-cyber-defense-conversation-ambassador-nathaniel-c-fick-and-director public event] upon their return at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington, DC.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-15 |title=The Global Dimension of Ukraine's Cyber Defense: A conversation with Ambassador Nathaniel C. Fick and Director Jen Easterly {{!}} German Marshall Fund of the United States |url=https://www.gmfus.org/event/global-dimension-ukraines-cyber-defense-conversation-ambassador-nathaniel-c-fick-and-director |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=www.gmfus.org |language=en}}</ref>
Ambassador Fick and his team led the creation of the [https://www.state.gov/building-digital-solidarity-the-united-states-international-cyberspace-and-digital-policy-strategy/ U.S. International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy], released by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on May 6, 2024. Fick discussed the strategy publicly at a [https://www.cfr.org/event/san-francisco-meeting-conversation-nathaniel-c-fick forum] hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations later that week. Fick left his position upon Donald Trump taking office.<ref name=":1" /> Before leaving office, Fick gave an interview to Wired warning against complacency in the battle over cyberspace with China and Russia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Geller |first=Eric |title=Biden's Cyber Ambassador Urges Trump Not to Cede Ground to Russia and China in Global Tech Fight |url=https://www.wired.com/story/nathaniel-fick-us-cyber-ambassador-exit-interview/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>
==Personal life== He resides in Maine with his wife, Margaret Angell, and two daughters.<ref name="dartmouth.edu"/>
==In popular culture== Fick and his platoon were the subjects of a series of articles in ''Rolling Stone'' and the book ''Generation Kill'' by the embedded journalist Evan Wright. The articles won the National Magazine Award in 2003. ''Generation Kill'' was adapted by David Simon and Ed Burns into a miniseries of the same name for HBO, in which Fick is portrayed by Stark Sands.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995832/characters/nm1197466?ref_=tt_cl_c_5 |website=imdb|title=Stark Sands: Lt. Nathaniel Fick}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} * List of United States Marines * Members of the Council on Foreign Relations
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category|Nathaniel Fick}} * {{C-SPAN|1017076}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fick, Nathaniel}} Category:Living people Category:1977 births Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War Category:American military writers Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:Businesspeople from Baltimore Category:People from Towson, Maryland Category:Henry Crown Fellows Category:Loyola Blakefield alumni Category:United States ambassadors-at-large Category:Biden administration personnel Category:JPMorgan Chase people