Declan Ganley’s Rivada Networks taps Mike Pompeo as director

As a member of the board, Secretary Pompeo will advise Rivada on strategic issues and help guide the company’s growth and expansion into new markets, Rivada said.

Mike Pompeo was a member of the US Congress for a Kansas constituency before becoming a key member of Donald Trump’s administration as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then Secretary of State, America’s top foreign affairs official.

The former army officer is a graduate of the US military academy at West Point and Harvard Law School.

During the Trump administration he was an outspoken loyalist of the then president’s isolationist and sometimes erratic foreign policy decisions.

At home in the US Mr Pompeo controversially appeared to endorse Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 US election that returned Joe Biden, saying days after the vote that there would be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”

He later publicly accepted the results and cooperated in the handover of power to the Biden administration.

A major figure on the American political right Mr Pompeo recently ruled himself out as candidate for the Republicans in next year’s presidential election, where Donald Trump is likely to be the party nominee.

On the Rivada board he will serve alongside Martin O’Malley, also once seen as a presidential candidate but for the rival Democratic Party back in 2016. He is a former governor of the US state of Maryland and before that was mayor of Baltimore.

The board also includes a number of retired senior military figures –retired Field Marshal Guthrie, a former head of the British defence staff and US General Richard Myers, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of staff.

Rivada is a specialist telecoms business that provides networks for large public sector and private sector customers.

“We are delighted to have Secretary Pompeo join our Board of Directors,” said Declan Ganley, CEO of Rivada Networks. “His extensive experience in government, business, and international affairs will be invaluable as we continue to grow and innovate in both terrestrial and satellite communications.”

“I am excited to join the Board of Directors of Rivada Networks,” said Mr Pompeo.

“The company’s innovative communication solutions are critical to the success of governments and enterprise globally. I look forward to working with the Rivada team to further enhance their capabilities and bring their solutions to new markets,” he said.