Scott Nathan
Scott Nathan
Scott Nathan is the founder of Atlantic Neptune, the organization through which he conducts his investment and philanthropic activities. Until January 20, 2025, Scott served as the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the official development finance institution of the United States. During his tenure as CEO, Scott oversaw extraordinary growth in organizational capacity and effectiveness. In the three years after he was confirmed in the role by the US Senate, DFC made over $30 billion in new investments into the private sector in the developing world that improved people’s lives and advanced the national security interests and development objectives of the United States.
Prior to DFC, Scott served as senior advisor on nominations in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and, before that, as a member of the Biden Presidential Transition team where he was the personnel lead for the General Government cluster of agencies (OMB, GSA, and OPM). From 2015 to 2017, Scott served as the Associate Director for General Government Programs (GGP) at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. In this role, he led a team of OMB experts overseeing a broad range of policy, budget and management issues in six separate branches, including those focused on the Departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Justice, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury, as well as GSA, SBA, the Postal Service and many of the independent financial regulators, amongst other agencies. Before moving to the White House, Scott served as the U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, leading a team of foreign service officers and civil servants who were focused on protecting US economic interests abroad and who advocated on behalf of American exports. Scott travelled to more than 30 countries supporting Secretary Kerry and the Obama Administration’s economic diplomacy agenda.
Before entering public service, Scott spent nearly two decades working in the investment business as a partner and the Chief Risk Officer of The Baupost Group, a private investment partnership based in Boston. He chaired Baupost’s portfolio risk committee, co-chaired its best practices and business risk committee, ran investment team hiring, and served as a member of the firm’s management committee. Scott began his investing career focused on emerging markets, particularly public and private equity markets in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Outside of his professional career, Scott has been deeply involved with environmental advocacy, educational, and other non-profit organizations. He has served on the boards of the Center American Progress (where he was a senior fellow and chair of the Action Fund board), National Security Action, Democracy Forward Foundation (a public interest law firm), Wilderness Society (as treasurer), and the League of Conservation Voters, where he was previously board chair. Scott was a member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. He has been extensively involved with Harvard University, as a member of the executive committee of its last capital campaign and serving twice on the Finance Committee of the Harvard Corporation, the governing body of Harvard University. He has served on numerous other boards and committees, including the National Gallery of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (as Secretary of the board and chair of nominating committee), the Trustees of Reservations, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and the Park School in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Scott graduated from Harvard College, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Additionally, he attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge University in England as the Lionel de Jersey Harvard Scholar.
Scott lives in Washington, DC with his wife Laura DeBonis and their two children.
