Crains Detroit Business
by Dustin Walsh
President Donald Trump nominated Tuesday The Suburban Collection Chairman and CEO David Fischer to be ambassador of the U.S. in Morocco.
Fischer, 71, was a mega donor to the Trump administration, donating $250,000 to the president’s inauguration committee. He was the largest individual donor alongside John Rakolta Jr., CEO of the Detroit-based construction company Walbridge Aldinger Co. and former finance chairman of Mitt Romney’s two presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
Fischer joined his family’s dealership business as a service adviser in 1968 before buying the business in 1978. He has since grown the dealership group to the 15th largest group in the country, which now includes 52 dealerships and 36 brands, according to Automotive News. The Troy-based group reported almost $2.4 billion in revenue in 2016.
He’s also one of the most active philanthropic donors in the region. His dealership group works with about 80 different charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and “Go Red for Women” through the American Heart Association. Fischer led a significant fundraising portion, $55 million, of the $145 million renovation of the Argonaut Building in Detroit’s Midtown for the College for Creative Studies and has donated millions to the Detroit Institute of Arts among dozens of other organizations.
He has been a board member of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission in Detroit since 2012.
Morocco, a nation in Northern Africa with a population of approximately 36 million, represents a small portion of U.S. trade, approximately $1.9 billion in 2016, but is an important ally in Africa. The two countries have a bilateral free trade agreement and Morocco is a source of minerals for the U.S., such as salt and sulfur.
Fischer will serve as the administration’s liaison on the nation following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Comment was not able to be provided at this stage of the appointment process.
