Christopher Pell Liddell CNZM (born 24 April 1958) is a New Zealand-American businessperson who served as chief financial officer of Microsoft,[3][4] the vice chairman of General Motors,[3][4] senior vice president and CFO of International Paper, director and chairman of Xero[5] and the White House deputy chief of staff in the first Trump administration.

Four years later he was chief executive officer - the first New Zealander to be appointed by majority shareholder International Paper, which had previously sent Americans David Oskin and John Faraci down to head the company.

[18][19] Liddell served as vice chairman and chief financial officer at General Motors, where he managed the company’s $23 billion IPO in November 2010, which, at that time, which was the largest public offering in history.

Xero's chief executive and founder Rod Drury said Liddell’s contribution had seen the New Zealand-founded company’s annualized committed monthly revenue (ACMR) triple during his tenure, stating “Chris leaves us in a good position with strong global revenue growth.” Liddell resigned from the New Zealand-based company to take on a new role in United States president-elect Donald Trump's administration.

Liddell proposes that candidates should focus on key tasks during this "Year Zero" to set themselves up for success, such as assembling a leadership team and preparing for crises.

[1] In his White House roles he has coordinated administration policy around a number of technology issues, in particular relating to cyber security, and to the Industries of the Future, which include Artificial Intelligence, 5G, Advanced Manufacturing, Quantum Computing and Synthetic Biology.

The left-wing Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand said he should be rejected as his work for Trump had eroded multilateral approaches in the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization.

[44][45][46] Prior to the 2021 inauguration Liddell called for legislation that "allows a provisional ascertainment to occur so that an incoming administration [and] the president-elect can get security briefings for a lot of the time-sensitive issues regardless of whether the formal election has been settled or not.

"[47] Liddell reportedly considered resigning after the January 6 United States Capitol attack in Washington D.C., but announced he would stay on to ensure a smooth transition to President-elect Joe Biden.

[48][49] David Marchick elaborated on Liddell’s role in the tumult of the translation in his book The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions, noting that while Presidential transitions are incredibly complicated endeavors in the best of circumstances, Liddell had “kept order, done heroic work in an impossible environment.” [50][51] Author, documentary filmmaker, and White House historian Chris Whipple, in a preview chapter on the transition from his book on the Biden White House, The Fight of His Life, published in Vanity Fair, said that Liddell “helped make the transfer of power possible, becoming an unlikely leader of a plot to save democracy.”[52] Liddell's book, Year Zero: The Five-Year Presidency, explores the crucial elements of building and operating an effective White House, emphasizing its pivotal role in the success of a presidency and the democratic process in the United States.

The book, published by the University of Virginia Press, offers concrete, nonpartisan steps to improve White House functionality and rebuild trust in this fundamental institution.

[61] In 2001, Liddell was on the conference committee for the Catching the Knowledge Wave project, one of the biggest meeting of minds to take place in New Zealand history.

The conference hosted about 450 academics, officials, politicians, economists and business leaders who discussed ways of lifting New Zealand’s economic performance.

[67] Liddell was a founding trustee of Pure Advantage, a registered New Zealand charity, which supports a broad range of sustainability, regenerative and green growth-focused research activities.

[69] In 2017, Liddell and his brother, John, donated $1 million to Mount Albert Grammar primarily to fund teacher and pupil scholarships.