- General
- September 10, 2020
- 3 minutes read
Ex-NSA Chief Joins Amazon Board
General Keith Alexander, former director of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Photo credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch, under…
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| General Keith Alexander, former director of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
Photo credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch, under Creative Commons license
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E-commerce giant Amazon has announced that it’s added a new board member by the name of Keith Alexander, who’s notably a former chief of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and a U.S. Army veteran with a significant history in intelligence operations. During his time as NSA chief, Alexander notably drew controversy over the agency’s data collection practices, particularly on PRISM, a surveillance program that was shed light on by famed whistleblower Edward Snowden. Following Snowden’s expose in 2013, Alexander stepped down from the NSA the following year and founded IronNet, a cybersecurity upstart. IronNet, based out the U.S. state of Maryland, has raised more than $100 million in funding as a private company. Among its backers include notable names such as Kleiner Perkins and ForgePoint Capital.
Alexander’s appointment to Amazon’s board brings the total number of board members at the company to 11 including CEO Jeff Bezos. Other notable members of the company’s board include Starbucks COO Rosalind Brewer, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, and Jonathan Rubinstein, an Apple veteran and former Co-CEO of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.
