The Hon. Keith Krach
Keith Krach is an American businessman, Silicon Valley innovator, philanthropist and public servant, noted for bringing transformational leadership to many sectors, including robotics, engineering, commerce, education, philanthropy, government and even the way people sign. He is the former Chairman of the Purdue Board of Trustees and recruited sitting Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, to be the 12th President of the University. Krach was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Under Secretary of State (2019-2021) to lead America’s economic diplomacy portfolio.
As the nation’s top economic diplomat, Krach led the development of the bipartisan Global Economic Security Strategy; built the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies to defeat the CCP’s masterplan to control 5G communications; spearheaded the largest onshoring in US history to secure the semiconductor supply chain; drove divestment in CCP companies to protect US investors from unknowingly financing Chinese military buildup; championed the human rights by mobilizing action against CCP’s ethnic/religious genocide in Xinjian; directed the repatriation of 100,000 United States citizens during the 2020 global pandemic, and strengthened ties with Taiwan by orchestrating the Lee Economic Prosperity Partnership Agreement and becoming the highest ranking state department official to visit in 41 years. As a result of these and other national security initiatives, Krach and his family were sanctioned by the CCP.
Krach served as DocuSign Chairman & CEO for 10 years, transforming it from a startup to the global powerhouse it is today. Prior to that, Krach co-founded Ariba serving as Chairman & CEO, creating the world’s largest business-to-business e-commerce network which now transacts $3.7 trillion annually. Krach also was the Chairman of the Board for Angie’s List, the co-founder and COO of mechanical design software leader Rasna Corporation, the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Benchmark Capital, the International President of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, the 2000 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year, Harvard Business School’s 2019 Business Leader of the Year and the youngest-ever Vice President of General Motors.
Krach earned a B.S. Degree in Engineering from Purdue University in 1979, and MBA from Harvard Business School in 1981, receiving a full scholarship from GM for both schools. In 2018, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. He currently lives with his wife Metta and 5 children in San Francisco.
It was a true blessing to serve with such a multi-dimensional leader and patriot like Dr. Mung Chiang in his role as the Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State at the State Department, and I am grateful beyond words to have the opportunity to do it again to continue the mission of advancing freedom. I feel equally fortunate to have as our inaugural Director the very talented and visionary Bonnie Glick, whose leadership I've come to know and admire during my time running U.S. economic diplomacy.
