--- alias: - Ken Howery - Kenneth Howery - Kenneth A. Howery category: Technologists created: 2026-10-01 location: Texas (state of residence); Stockholm, Sweden (2019); Copenhagen, Denmark (2025) relations: - fn: 1 role: co-founder; director of corporate development in a January 2002 filing; chief financial officer per TechCrunch type: founded with: '[[PayPal]]' - fn: 8 role: co-founder; director or promoter of Founders Fund vehicles in Form D filings, 2009 to 2016 type: founded with: '[[Founders Fund]]' - fn: 8 role: co-director or co-promoter of Founders Fund vehicles in Form D filings start: 2009-05-15 type: partner_of with: '[[Peter Thiel]]' - fn: 8 role: co-director or co-promoter of Founders Fund vehicles in Form D filings start: 2009-05-15 type: partner_of with: '[[Luke Nosek]]' - fn: 1 role: member type: member_of with: '[[Explorers Club]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true role: ambassador to Sweden; confirmed September 17, 2019, 62 to 32 start: 2019-09-20 type: appointed with: '[[Donald Trump]]' - fn: 3 role: ambassador to Sweden, non-career appointee start: 2019-10-12 type: employed_by with: '[[State Department]]' - fn: 4 reverse: true role: ambassador to Denmark; confirmed in en bloc vote 547, 51 to 47 start: 2025-10-07 type: appointed with: '[[Donald Trump]]' - end: 2024-02-23 fn: 6 role: 200,000 dollars on October 13, 2020, as U.S. ambassador; 413,000 dollars on February 23, 2024 start: 2020-10-13 type: funded with: '[[Republican National Committee]]' - end: 2022-03-27 fn: 6 role: 5,800 dollars to Blake Masters for Senate start: 2022-03-27 type: funded with: '[[Blake Masters]]' - end: 2024-05-14 fn: 6 role: 3,300 dollars to JD Vance for Senate start: 2024-05-14 type: funded with: '[[JD Vance]]' - end: 2024-06-25 fn: 10 role: 1,000,000 dollars in four contributions of 250,000 dollars start: 2024-06-20 type: funded with: '[[America PAC]]' - end: 2024-10-17 fn: 6 role: 150,000 dollars in three contributions of 50,000 dollars start: 2024-10-17 type: funded with: '[[Trump 47 Committee]]' - end: 2024-10-17 fn: 6 role: 100,000 dollars, 25,000 dollars of it attributed to the Kenneth Howery Revocable Trust start: 2024-10-11 type: funded with: '[[MAHA Alliance]]' summary: PayPal and Founders Fund co-founder who served as Trump's ambassador to Sweden from 2019, gave 1 million dollars to America PAC in June 2024, and became ambassador to Denmark in 2025. tags: - Person - KenHowery - PayPalMafia - FoundersFund - AmbassadorToSweden - AmbassadorToDenmark - Greenland - PeterThiel - AmericaPAC - CampaignFinance updated: 2026-10-01 --- Kenneth A. Howery co-founded [PayPal](/organizations/paypal/) after graduating from [Stanford University](/organizations/stanford-university/) and later co-founded a venture capital firm, [Founders Fund](/organizations/founders-fund/), with [Peter Thiel](/people/peter-thiel/) and [Luke Nosek](/people/luke-nosek/).[^1][^2] He was the [United States](/places/united-states/) ambassador to Sweden from 2019, appointed as a non-career appointee with [Texas](/places/texas/) as his state of residence, and was confirmed as ambassador to Denmark on October 7, 2025.[^3][^4] He told the [Senate Foreign Relations Committee](/organizations/senate-foreign-relations-committee/) in 2025 that his grandfathers "eventually raised their own families in Texas, where I grew up."[^5] ### Family and Early Career In his statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 16, 2019, Howery introduced his mother, Karen Howery, his father, Ken Howery, and his sister, and said that both of his grandfathers had served in the Second World War: Fred Howery in the [United States Navy](/organizations/us-navy/) in the Pacific and Hubert Jurek in the [United States Army](/organizations/us-army/) in Europe and North Africa.[^1] He repeated the family history to the committee in May 2025.[^5] He told the committee in 2019: "When I graduated from Stanford, I co-founded PayPal. Our idea was simple: to make online transactions easy."[^1] Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch wrote in January 2025 that Howery was part of the original "[PayPal Mafia](/organizations/paypal-mafia/)", "the CFO who helped bring it together and sell it to eBay", and "a close pal of Elon Musk's".[^2] A [Federal Election Commission](/organizations/federal-election-commission/) record of a 5,000 dollar contribution to the PayPal Inc. Political Action Committee on January 17, 2002 gives his employer and title as "PayPal Inc./Director of Corporate D[evelopment]", Palo Alto.[^6] ### Founders Fund In his prepared statement of 2019 Howery wrote: "After PayPal, I co-founded a venture capital firm that has and continues to support hundreds of new companies, helping create tens of thousands of jobs, and fostering innovation in space exploration, quantum computing, biotechnology, virtual reality, alternative energy, and consumer technologies." He named Spotify as one of those companies.[^7] In 2025 he described the fund's early investments as including companies "working in fields including aerospace, defense, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology", and said: "In 2019, I left the private sector for public service".[^5] The [Securities and Exchange Commission](/organizations/securities-and-exchange-commission/)'s Form D filings for Founders Fund vehicles list Howery with Thiel and Nosek. Founders Fund SpaceX Fund, LP (filed May 15, 2009; 3,481,500 dollars sold to 11 investors, amended on August 17, 2009 to 6,737,500 dollars from 29 investors) lists Howery, Thiel, Nosek and Sean Parker as directors, at One Letterman Drive, Building C, Suite 420, [San Francisco](/places/san-francisco/). Founders Fund III (filed May 5, 2010; 107,272,727 dollars from 21 investors) and Founders Fund IV (filed December 1, 2011; 500,000,000 dollars from 58 investors) list him as a promoter; Founders Fund V (filed March 6, 2014; 1,015,200,000 dollars from 109 investors) and Founders Fund VI (filed March 25, 2016; 1,274,127,000 dollars from 197 investors) list him as a director.[^8] A Federal Election Commission record of October 7, 2016 gives his employer as Founders Fund and his occupation as general partner.[^6] At his 2019 hearing Senator Mitt Romney, presiding, introduced him as "the co-founder of PayPal, as well as an early investor in major [Silicon Valley](/places/silicon-valley/) companies such as Facebook and SpaceX".[^1] ### Ambassador to Sweden The committee heard the nomination on May 16, 2019, with Romney presiding and Senators Ben Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Udall and Tim Kaine present. Howery listed participation in the World Economic Forum and membership of the Explorers Club, said that he advised Kiva, and said he had travelled to 99 countries. In questioning, Romney asked about the security partnership with Sweden, and Howery answered that Sweden was "a [NATO](/organizations/nato/) partner, not a NATO member". Shaheen asked about Russian disinformation in Sweden; Howery cited Sweden's national board for psychological defense and agreed to meet the State Department's Global Engagement Center. Udall asked about climate change and Kaine about antisemitism in Sweden.[^1] In answers to written questions from Senators Robert Menendez and Cardin, Howery answered "No" when asked whether anyone had made a complaint of sexual harassment, discrimination or inappropriate conduct against him. Asked whether he would bring to the committee's attention any change in policy that he suspected might be influenced by the business or financial interests of the President or senior [White House](/places/white-house/) staff, he answered: "If confirmed, I commit to comply with all relevant federal ethics laws, regulations, and rules, and to raise concerns that I may have through appropriate channels." Asked whether he or his immediate family had financial interests in Sweden, he answered: "My investment portfolio includes interests in entities that have a presence in Sweden. This includes stock holdings, mutual funds or exchange traded funds, and private investment funds that hold interests in companies with a presence in Sweden." He added that if confirmed he would "divest all investments the State Department Ethics Office deems necessary and recuse myself from matters when required to avoid a conflict of interest".[^1] The Senate confirmed the nomination, PN127, on September 17, 2019 by a vote of 62 to 32 (roll call 285).[^9] He was appointed on September 20, 2019 and assumed charge on October 12, 2019.[^3] Federal Election Commission records show three contributions by "Howery, Ken Mr." to the Republican National Committee dated October 13, 2020: 106,500 dollars to its headquarters account, 58,000 dollars to its legal proceedings account and 35,500 dollars to its general account, 200,000 dollars in all. The employer on each entry is "Stockholm" and the occupation "U.S. Ambassador".[^6] In 2025 Howery told the committee that in Sweden he had worked on "countering China's influence" and on "strongly advocating for Sweden's increased defense spending and interoperability, helping pave the wave for its eventual NATO accession".[^5] ### Political Contributions, 2022 to 2024 Federal Election Commission records list the following contributions by Howery, with the employer and occupation as reported on each filing.[^6] - 2022: two entries of 2,900 dollars to [Blake Masters](/people/blake-masters/) for Senate on March 27, through WinRed; 36,500 dollars and 13,500 dollars to the Republican National Committee on September 22 (employer "PayPal and Founders Fund", occupation co-founder). - 2023: on October 13, 58,700 dollars and 41,300 dollars to the Republican National Committee (contributor name "Howery, Ken Ambassador") and 100,000 dollars to the Daines Senate Majority Fund. - 2024: on February 23, 41,300 dollars to the Republican National Committee and 123,900 dollars to each of its convention, headquarters and legal proceedings accounts, and 11,600 dollars to the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee; 100,000 dollars to the Cornyn Victory Committee (May 14), with 3,300 dollars to JD Vance for Senate and 5,000 dollars to Working for Ohio, a leadership PAC whose FEC record lists Vance as its affiliate, the same day; 100,000 dollars to the 2024 Thune Republican Senate Victory committee (May 28) and entries of 3,400 to 10,000 dollars to 34 Republican state party committees, including the District of Columbia's, from May 28 to June 3; 100,000 dollars to the Hudson Victory Fund (June 14); 75,000 dollars on October 11 and 25,000 dollars on October 17 to MAHA Alliance, the latter attributed to the Kenneth Howery Revocable Trust; and three entries of 50,000 dollars to Trump 47 Committee, Inc. on October 17. On June 20, 21, 24 and 25, 2024, Howery gave 250,000 dollars each to America PAC, 1,000,000 dollars in all, with his employer given as self-employed and his occupation as investor.[^6][^10] America PAC (committee C00879510) is registered as an independent-expenditure-only committee with a post office box in Austin, Texas, Chris Young as treasurer, and a first filing date of May 22, 2024. Its other contributions of 200,000 dollars or more in June 2024 were 1,000,000 dollars each from James J. Liautaud (June 6), Lonsdale Enterprises Inc. (June 7), Joe Craft of Alliance Resource Partners (June 10), Douglas Leone of Sequoia Capital (June 14) and Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners (June 28); 500,000 dollars each from Watershed Capital LLC, WCM Investments LLC and its owner Troy Link, Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital and John Hering of Lookout; 250,000 dollars each from Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss (June 21); and 200,000 dollars from Michael Thompson (June 20). [Elon Musk](/people/elon-musk/), with his employer given as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is first recorded as a contributor on July 3, 2024 (5,000,000 dollars); his entries include 40,495,178 dollars on November 25, 2024. The committee reported 263,494,648.67 dollars in receipts for the 2024 cycle.[^10] ### Ambassador to Denmark Lunden described Howery in January 2025 as "U.S. President-elect Trump's pick to be the next ambassador" to Denmark. She quoted Greenland's prime minister, Múte Egede: "We don't want to be Americans."[^2] The Copenhagen Post wrote that [Donald Trump](/people/donald-trump/) nominated Howery in December 2024.[^11] At the committee's hearing on May 8, 2025, Howery's prepared statement named three priorities: shared security, the economic relationship, and "Arctic security, particularly in Greenland". It referred to the 1951 defense agreement with Denmark, to Pituffik Space Base as "the northernmost U.S. military base", and to the reopening of the American consulate in Nuuk in 2020, and stated that "recent conversations about this reality, and the appropriate U.S. role in Greenland's future, have been spirited". It also said he would "work closely with Danish leaders to strengthen defense, law enforcement, and intelligence cooperation".[^5] The Senate confirmed him on October 7, 2025 in roll call 547, a single en bloc vote of 51 to 47 on 107 nominations provided for under Senate Resolution 412. The package included his nomination, "Kenneth Howery, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark", with those of Sergio Gor (India), Herschel Walker (Bahamas), Jacob Helberg (Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth) and Paul Atkins (Securities and Exchange Commission).[^4] The Copenhagen Post reported that the official residence in Copenhagen was under renovation.[^11] The Local, carrying a Ritzau report of November 10, 2025, wrote that Howery had arrived in Denmark the previous week and had an audience with King Frederik on November 5.[^12] ### Greenland Interference Reports The Local reported that the Danish broadcaster DR had reported in August 2025 "that at least three US officials close to US President Donald Trump have been involved in 'interference' activities in Greenland aimed at creating division with Denmark", including gathering information on past tensions between Greenland and Denmark and identifying Greenlanders sympathetic to an American takeover. The Danish intelligence service PET had stated that Greenland was the target of such campaigns. Foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told AFP in August that "any attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom will of course be unacceptable" and summoned the American chargé d'affaires; Denmark had also summoned the chargé in May 2025 after the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States wanted to increase espionage in Greenland. The State Department said at the time: "The United States respects the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future." Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had noted that the United States had not explicitly denied involvement.[^12] In an interview with the newspaper Børsen reported on November 10, 2025, Howery stated that he had no direct knowledge of any interference campaign orchestrated by the United States in Greenland and did not believe the United States government to be behind it, and said: "There are individual Americans who could have an interest in Greenland. But the US government does not direct or control the actions of private individuals."[^12] On November 25, 2025, with his employer given as the [U.S. Department of State](/organizations/state-department/) and his occupation as ambassador, Federal Election Commission records list contributions from Howery of 7,000 dollars to Whatley for Senate (part redesignated), 5,000 dollars to North Carolina First, and corresponding WinRed entries.[^6] [^1]: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Nominations of the 116th Congress, First Session, Part I, S. Hrg. 116-273 (hearing of May 16, 2019): opening statement of Senator Romney (p. 303); statement and prepared statement of Kenneth A. Howery, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden (pp. 307 to 310); questioning by Senators Romney, Shaheen, Udall and Kaine (pp. 317 to 323); responses to additional questions for the record submitted by Senators Menendez and Cardin (pp. 328 to 331). https://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/transcript-051619 [^2]: Ingrid Lunden, "Ken Howery: The tech mogul at the center of Trump's Greenland ambition," TechCrunch, January 17, 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/17/ken-howery-the-tech-mogul-at-the-center-of-trumps-greenland-ambition/ [^3]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, "Kenneth A. Howery," Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission (non-career appointee; state of residence Texas; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Sweden; appointed September 20, 2019; assumed charge October 12, 2019; database updates suspended January 2024). https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/howery-kenneth-a [^4]: U.S. Senate, roll call vote 547, 119th Congress, 1st session, October 7, 2025, 5:01 p.m., "Confirmation: En Bloc Nominations Provided for Under the Provisions of S. Res. 412," Nomination Confirmed (51 to 47), including PN54-3. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00547.xml [^5]: Statement of Kenneth A. Howery, Nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, May 8, 2025. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/050825_howery_testimonydocx [^6]: Federal Election Commission, itemized Schedule A receipts for contributor names "Howery, Ken" and "Howery, Kenneth," 2002 to 2025, including images 22990662913 (PayPal Inc. PAC, January 17, 2002), 201610279036648865 (Tiberi for Congress, October 7, 2016), 202010229333170964 and 202010229333162503 (RNC, October 13, 2020), 202204159496855438 and 202204159496855439 (Blake Masters for Senate), 202210209541164400 and 202210209541200766 (RNC, 2022), 202311209599329779 and 202311209599319468 (RNC, 2023), 202405239648744395 and 202405239648741077 (RNC, February 23, 2024), 202404159632972497 (Trump Save America JFC), 202502119753399060 and 202502119753399061 (Trump 47 Committee), 202410249710186578 and 202412059731464457 (MAHA Alliance). https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_name=Howery%2C+Kenneth and https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202010229333170964 [^7]: Prepared statement of Kenneth A. Howery, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, May 16, 2019. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/howery-testimony-051619 [^8]: Founders Fund SpaceX Fund, LP, Forms D filed May 15 and August 17, 2009 (accessions 0001464202-09-000001 and 0001464202-09-000003); Founders Fund III, LP, filed May 5, 2010 (0001288320-10-000004); Founders Fund IV, LP, filed December 1, 2011 (0001535267-11-000002); Founders Fund V, LP, filed March 6, 2014 (0001601419-14-000001); Founders Fund VI, LP, filed March 25, 2016 (0001669874-16-000001). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1464202/000146420209000001/primary_doc.xml , https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1491094/000128832010000004/primary_doc.xml , https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1535267/000153526711000002/primary_doc.xml , https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1601419/000160141914000001/primary_doc.xml and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1669874/000166987416000001/primary_doc.xml [^9]: U.S. Senate, roll call vote 285, 116th Congress, 1st session, September 17, 2019, "On the Nomination PN127, Kenneth A. Howery, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden," Nomination Confirmed (62 to 32). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1161/vote_116_1_00285.xml [^10]: Federal Election Commission, America PAC (C00879510), committee record, 2024 cycle totals and Schedule A receipts of 100,000 dollars or more through June 30, 2024 (images 202410099684835306 to 202410099684835311), and receipts from Elon Musk (including image 202412059738029687). https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00879510/ and https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?committee_id=C00879510&two_year_transaction_period=2024 [^11]: "US ambassador to Denmark finally approved," The Copenhagen Post, October 8, 2025. https://cphpost.dk/2025-10-08/news/round-up/us-ambassador-to-denmark-finally-approved/ [^12]: Ritzau/The Local, "US Ambassador denies Trump link to Greenland 'interference'," The Local (Denmark), November 10, 2025. https://www.thelocal.dk/20251110/us-ambassador-denies-trump-link-to-greenland-interference