Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business leader, investor, lawyer, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and started his career in business in 1982. From 2005 to 2007, he was chairman of the board of Gateway. He also co-founded Ardesta, LLC, a venture capital firm, and HealthMedia, Inc., a company that provides digital health coaching. He is currently the CEO of SensCy, a cybersecurity company in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
A member of the Republican Party, Snyder won the 2010 Michigan gubernatorial election and was re-elected in 2014. He could not run again in 2018 because of term limits and was replaced by Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. In 2012, he was considered a possible candidate for the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination, but Paul Ryan was chosen instead.
In 2014, Snyder became widely known for his role in the Flint water crisis, where he was accused of not handling the situation properly, which exposed thousands of Flint residents to water contaminated with lead. A report by the University of Michigan School of Public Health stated that Snyder had "significant legal responsibility" for the crisis. In 2020, an article in Vice magazine described evidence of corruption and a cover-up, including claims that Snyder was warned multiple times about the dangers of his decisions regarding the water supply. In January 2021, Snyder was charged with two misdemeanor crimes related to the crisis. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. In December 2022, Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm dismissed the charges.
Early life, education, and family
Snyder was born to Dale F. and Helen Louella Snyder in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan, where he grew up. His father owned a local window-cleaning company in Battle Creek and had Dutch heritage from his father's side. He has an older sister. At 16, he took a business class at Kellogg Community College on weekends. By his senior year at Lakeview High School, Snyder had earned 23 college credits.
In November 1975, Snyder visited the admissions office of the University of Michigan and spoke with the admissions director, who advised him to attend the university and design his own degree program. Snyder earned a Bachelor of General Studies in 1977, a Master of Business Administration in 1979, and a Juris Doctor (law degree) in 1982, all from the University of Michigan. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife Sue and their three children. He also has a vacation home near Gun Lake. The couple married in 1987 at Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church in Dearborn, Michigan. Snyder is a practicing Presbyterian.
Business career
Snyder worked at Coopers & Lybrand from 1982 to 1991, starting in the tax department in the Detroit office. In 1988, he became a partner. The following year, he was named partner-in-charge of the mergers and acquisitions practice in the Chicago office. From 1982 to 1984, he taught accounting as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Michigan.
In 1991, Snyder joined Gateway, a computer company based in Irvine, California, as executive vice president. He became president and chief operating officer from 1996 to 1997. He stayed on the board of directors until 2007. From 2005 to 2007, he was chairman of the board. In 2006, he served as interim chief executive officer while a new leader was being chosen. His time on the Gateway board lasted from 1991 to 2007, ending when Gateway was sold to Acer Inc. Snyder said he did not support outsourcing while on the Gateway board and worked to bring jobs to America during his time as interim CEO.
In 1997, Snyder returned to Ann Arbor and co-founded Avalon Investments Inc., a venture capital company with a $100 million fund, with Ted Waitt, who co-founded Gateway. He was president and chief executive officer of Avalon from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, he co-founded Ardesta LLC, an investment firm, with three others. Ardesta helped fund 20 start-up companies until 2011. Snyder was chairman and chief executive officer of the company.
In 1998, Snyder co-founded HealthMedia Incorporated (HMI), a company that created digital health coaching tools using personalized questionnaires to develop customized health plans. The University of Michigan gave HMI exclusive rights to use its research on health-related computerized messaging. Despite these advantages, HMI did not perform well. In 2001, Snyder replaced the original CEO and used his own money to save the company from bankruptcy. After receiving additional funding from venture capitalists, HMI was sold in 2008 for $200 million to Johnson & Johnson. The sale included personal health information from millions of users, which influenced the price. At the time of the sale, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman was on Johnson & Johnson’s board. In 2010, while running for governor of Michigan, Snyder said HMI was one of the state’s best success stories. After Snyder became governor, Johnson & Johnson merged HMI into a subsidiary and stopped operating in Michigan.
In July 2022, Snyder co-founded SensCy with David Behen, a former State of Michigan CIO; Bhushan Kulkarni, an Ann Arbor entrepreneur; and Dave Kelly, who led cyber command for the Michigan State Police. SensCy is a cybersecurity company that helps small and medium-sized businesses improve their computer security. Snyder’s firm created the SensCy Score, a number that measures an organization’s cyberhealth. The company is based in Ann Arbor.
Snyder is on the boards of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (a National Historic Landmark), the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and several boards linked to the University of Michigan. He was first chair of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in 1999 under Republican governor John Engler and also chaired Ann Arbor SPARK.
Gubernatorial elections
In 2010, Rick Snyder ran against several other Republicans for the chance to be the governor of Michigan. His opponents included Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, state Senator Tom George, U.S. Congressman Pete Hoekstra, and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. Bill Ford Jr., who was the leader of Ford Motor Company, supported Snyder’s campaign for the Republican nomination. Snyder’s campaign focused on being "pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-family," with an emphasis on improving the economy. He highlighted his experience growing businesses and creating jobs in the private sector, saying his opponents were mostly politicians with no business experience. Snyder supported allowing exceptions for abortion in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. He signed a law in 2011 that banned a specific type of abortion called partial birth abortion. He opposed using federal money for abortions, allowed research on embryonic stem cells, and did not support same-sex marriage but allowed civil unions.
In August 2010, Snyder won the Republican primary with 36% of the vote. In the general election in November, he faced Virg Bernero, the mayor of Lansing, and three other candidates from smaller parties. By October 2010, Snyder’s campaign had raised over $11.6 million, more than his opponent. He shared his tax records from 2007 and 2008. Snyder won the election with 58% of the vote. His victory helped Republicans gain control of the Michigan House and strengthen their majority in the Michigan Senate. Snyder became the first Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to be elected governor of Michigan and, at the time, the only CPA to serve as a governor in the United States.
In 2014, Snyder began running for a second term as governor. He did not have any Republican opponents in the primary and faced Mark Schauer, a former U.S. Representative, in the general election. Snyder had low approval ratings, making his re-election bid challenging. Schauer had little public recognition. In November 2014, Snyder won the election with about 51% of the vote, defeating Schauer and securing a second term as governor.
Governor of Michigan
Governor Snyder's first official action as governor was to separate the Department of Natural Resources and Environment into two separate departments: the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality. On January 7, 2011, he announced the appointment of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura D. Corrigan to lead the Department of Human Services and named Michigan Appeals Court Judge Brian K. Zahra to replace her on the Supreme Court. Snyder gave his first State of the State speech on January 19, 2011, the earliest such speech in Michigan since Governor John Engler's address in 1996. In this speech, he publicly supported the Detroit River International Crossing, a move that received approval from Republicans. He also named Andy Dillon, a pro-life Democrat and former Speaker of the House, as state treasurer.
Snyder presented his first budget to the legislature on February 17, 2011, calling it a plan for "Michigan's reinvention" that aimed to end the state's budget deficits. He described the budget as requiring "shared sacrifice" but also claimed it would create jobs and boost economic growth. The $46 billion budget reduced spending by $1.8 billion, eliminated tax exemptions for pensions, and replaced the state's complex business tax with a lower flat tax on corporate profits. This change led State Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer to criticize the plan, saying it unfairly placed the burden on children, working families, and seniors. Snyder supported the government-backed rescue of the American auto industry, a move that aligned with the views of 56% of Americans and 63% of Michigan residents in 2012, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
On March 16, 2011, Snyder signed a controversial law that gave emergency managers more power to manage financial issues in local communities. The law was later repealed by voters in 2012 but was reintroduced and passed by Snyder in December 2012. On December 22, 2011, he signed a law that prevented same-sex domestic partners of public employees from receiving health benefits. This law was challenged in federal court by the ACLU on behalf of same-sex couples, and a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional in 2013. Snyder also participated in trade missions to Europe and Asia to promote Michigan businesses, including Chrysler.
In June 2012, Snyder signed the fiscal year 2012 budget, the earliest completed in three decades. He worked with lawmakers to support a federal measure to collect sales taxes on online purchases. He replaced the state's complex business tax with a flat tax and eliminated pension tax exemptions. For years, Snyder said anti-union laws were not on his agenda, but in December 2012, he announced fast-track right-to-work legislation during a legislative session. The law passed without public hearings and was made ineligible for repeal through a $1 million funding provision. President Barack Obama criticized the law, calling it a policy that allows workers to "work for less money." Snyder signed the law on December 11, 2012, making Michigan the 24th right-to-work state in the U.S.
In December 2012, Snyder signed a law requiring facilities that perform 120 or more abortions annually to obtain a state license as freestanding surgical centers. Planned Parenthood opposed the law, arguing it increased costs. In January 2013, Snyder visited Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He later announced a financial emergency in Detroit and appointed Kevyn Orr as emergency manager. Under his leadership, over half of Michigan's Black population lived in cities where emergency managers, not elected officials, controlled local government.
On December 27, 2013, Snyder signed a law that canceled a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act allowing indefinite detention without trial. In January 2014, he proposed offering visas to 50,000 highly skilled immigrant workers to help revitalize Detroit's economy. In June 2014, he created a commission to improve public defense services for low-income individuals.
On September 10, 2014, Detroit reached an agreement with three counties to create a regional water and sewer authority, a step toward resolving its $18 billion debt and exiting bankruptcy. On December 18, 2014, Snyder issued an executive order to establish the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development.
Subsequent career
Before leaving his position as governor, Snyder created a new company named RPAction LLC, based in Ann Arbor. The company's employees were former members of Snyder's administration. On June 29, 2019, Snyder agreed to take an upcoming position at Harvard University to share his knowledge about state and local government. On July 3, he announced through a social media post that he was declining the offer. He wrote, "It would have been exciting to share my experiences, both positive and negative; our current political environment and its lack of civility makes this too disruptive. I wish them the best." During the 2020 United States presidential election, Snyder supported Democrat Joe Biden. He stated that "President Trump lacks a moral compass. He ignores the truth" and that the president "also demonstrated that he does not fully appreciate policy matters, including public health, the economy and foreign relations, nor does he seem to want to learn."