Among various professional endeavors, he was founder and limited ownership partner of the Watergate complex.
He was named to Ronald Reagan’s International Private Enterprise Task Force.
When he returned to the US after serving as ambassador, he continued working with the State Department on "bilateral property projects involving Eastern European nations".
By 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed him Special Negotiator for Property Issues, with the permanent rank of Ambassador.
[4] The Nicolas M. Salgo endowed Chair in Business has been established in his name at the University of Maine.