He co-authored the bestselling, award-winning book, Digital Assassination: Protecting Your Reputation, Brand, or Business Against Online Attacks, St. Martin’s Press.

The book coined the phrase ‘Digital Assassination’ and offers a roadmap to what is happening on the Internet, why it is happening and what you can do about it. It reveals how the Internet is used to destroy brands, reputations, even lives. It exposes strategies digital assassins deploy and defines ways to turn the tables on their deception.

Richard has extensive hands-on experience in the world’s financial markets. Through a period of rapidly developing public policy issues, historic levels of market activity, unprecedented change in world affairs and intense media coverage, he planned and directed the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) worldwide activities and programs.

For nearly a decade, he was a member of the NYSE’s Management (policy) and Executive (operations) Committees. And on the firing line as the Big Board’s chief spokesman, he had a unique vantage on business, industry and media. For several years he chaired the NYSE Foundation.

Rich developed public strategies to deal with significant market issues including insider trading scandals; corporate mergers, acquisitions and IPOs; governance and shareholder activism; high-frequency trading, as well as regulatory and disciplinary actions.

He counseled chief executives and boards in the United States, Europe and Asia, as well as several heads of state.

Rich managed some of the most visible global corporate crises in our lifetime, including the October 1987 market crash, as well as Federal Reserve’s $4 billion recapitalization of Long-Term Capital Management, financed by a consortium of 14 of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Following the September 11th attacks, he provided counsel to leadership at Merrill Lynch, Lloyd’s of London, Nasdaq Stock Market, American Stock Exchange, National Association of Securities Dealers and Security Traders Association — all significantly affected on Wall Street by the terrorism raids. During the crises, his actions helped restore confidence in capital markets.

Rich made a specialty of identifying emerging issues and managing responses for brand and reputation; cyber, hacking attacks and leaks; product tampering, recalls and liability; unexpected management or board changes; significant fluctuations in equity values; fires, bomb threats, protests, kidnappings and terrorism; as well as regional, federal and international government and oversight commissions, investigations, studies, testimony and rulings.

Following the Bush-Gorbachev Malta Summit, Rich negotiated and planned the landmark NYSE USSR-US seminar on financial markets in Moscow. It was attended by several hundred Soviet academic, business, financial and government leaders. The program served as a catalyst opening exchanges in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

At that time, Rich was part of the delegation that advised key political and enterprise leaders in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland on their transition to capitalism and opening financial markets.

At the request of President Reagan, on behalf of the NYSE, he also negotiated and planned the China-US Symposium on Financial Markets in Beijing, with an historic private meeting with Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. This conclave of Chinese and global business and government chiefs, galvanized opening of a stock exchange in Shanghai, moving China towards a new economic and entrepreneurial environment.

Prior to those events, Rich managed White House-related activities for the NYSE CEO in his capacity as chair of President Reagan’s Board of Advisors on Private Sector Initiatives (PSI). He managed NYSE participation at PSI international conferences with heads of government and business leaders in Paris 1986, Milan and Venice in 1987 and in London 1988.

Rich was director and senior vice president, corporate affairs and a member of the Executive Management Committee for SmithKline Beecham, Plc. SB, a leading global healthcare company, marketed more than 300 products in 130 countries with revenues of $14 billion. SB merged with Glaxo.

Based in London, he had global responsibility for government affairs and public policy, communications and investor relations, issues and industry relations and philanthropic activities.

Under his leadership, during an intense political climate in healthcare, corporate affairs was
re-energized through management changes, deployment of technology and integration of strategic plans — all enhanced and strengthened SB’s global policy reach.

Rich was awarded The Ellis Island Medal of Honor and is recognized by notable international organizations.
He is a Knight, Sovereign Order of Malta; Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem; Knight, Order of Merit, Republic of Italy; Knight Commander Jus Patronato, Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, and Knight Grand Cross, Royal Order of Francis I, both
Royal House of Bourbon; Knight Commander, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and Knight Commander, Order of Merit, both Royal House of Savoy.

He is the recipient of several professional awards, including two Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvils for institutional and investor relations programs.

Rich serves on the board of the New York State Trooper Foundation and is a member of the Economic Club of New York. He was a member of the Private Sector Advisory Committee, United States Information Agency, State Department, Washington, DC. And for more than 25 years, was a member of the National Press Club.

He received a bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences from the New York Institute of Technology and for more than twenty years served on the university’s board of trustees and its executive committee.

Rich holds NYIT’s two highest honors: president’s medal for outstanding service to the community and an honorary Doctor of Letters. He completed the executive program at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, California.

He is an avid sailor and outdoorsman.

Rich is a sought-after expert and leading commentator on financial markets, crisis, brands, media and reputation.

His talks and writings direct leaders to conquer competition in this era of intense government and public scrutiny, media proliferation and hype.

He combines experience — managing some of the most visible global corporate crises in our lifetime, from market crashes, cyber-attacks, product recalls to terrorism — with exclusive behind-the-scenes insights of current events and history.

With business under attack — as media magnifies negative perceptions — he describes actions and leadership necessary to master escalating digital dangers, risks and threats.

To engage him as a conference speaker: www.torrenzanotalks.com