Michael Melville Wood is Chairman of Redwood Investments LLC, a Washington, DC investment company concentrating in media, real estate, and alternative energy. He is from Flint, Michigan. From 2006 to 2009 he was the United States Ambassador to Sweden.
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Wood attended Phillips Academy, and received his bachelor's degree at Yale University.[1] At Yale he was a Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity brother of George W. Bush.
Wood is the co-founder and former CEO of Hanley Wood, LLC.[2] He stepped down as CEO after the company was sold to JPMorgan Partners, however he kept a seat on the Hanley Wood board.[3]
On June 16, 2005, Wood was the recipient of the Top Executive of the Year Award from Media Business magazine.[4]
Wood was co-founder and CEO of Hanley Wood LLC, the leading media company in the housing and construction industry and one of the ten largest business-to-business media companies in the U.S. Wood and private equity partner Veronis Suhler Stevenson sold Hanley Wood to JPMorgan Partners on August 1, 2005.
Wood was sworn in as the United States ambassador to Sweden on June 5, 2006. Shortly after being sworn, he announced that his top priority was cooperation between the U.S. and Sweden in alternative energy technology. During his three years in Sweden he traveled to all 21 län (counties) looking for alternative energy companies that could benefit from cooperation with American venture capital and research institutions. The Ambassador’s list of the best of these Swedish companies contains 52 firms and the embassy estimates the resulting volume of activity between Swedish firms and US interests is $150–200MM. The most important results were in biofuels, automotive engine technology, and alternative jet fuel. He resigned on January 20, 2009, when President George W. Bush left office. He returned to private life and his work with Redwood Investments.
In recognition for this work, on May 4, 2009, His Majesty The King of Sweden made Wood a Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, an order of merit given by the Cabinet of Sweden to foreign citizens and stateless individuals who has made significant contributions to Sweden.
On February 6, 2009, in a ceremony at the House of Sweden in Washington, Wood was presented the William Wachtmeister Award for advancing Swedish-American relations. And on October 22, 2008, Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Maud Olofsson presented Wood the ESBRI Award for the person who has done the most for entrepreneurship in Sweden.
Ambassador Wood enjoys both mountain biking and golf.[5] He often rides with President George W. Bush.[5] His golf handicap is 12.[5] He and his wife, Judy, have two adult children: Mike and Kim, and four grandchildren.[5]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Teel Bivins |
U.S. Ambassador to Sweden 2006–2009 |
Succeeded by Matthew Barzun |