King Mohammed VI awarded Ambassador Riley the "Grand Croix du Ordre du Ouissam El Alaouite" (Grand Cross of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite).

He then joined BrightSource Energy, an Oakland, California-based global provider of utility scale solar technology, as senior adviser for International business development.

Riley then attended Harvard Business School where he received his MBA, and then went on to work at TRW Mission in London and Paris.

He returned to the US after 4 years and cofounded a company selling construction equipment to East Africa (Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan).

In 1984, he began an almost 20-year career in Silicon Valley, as Product Manager for an advanced electric utility meter at Robinton Products; as president of Unity Systems, manufacturer of an automated home and building control system; as founder and president of Web State, an online training company; and as president of ActivePhoto, an online digital image service.