Charles E. Cobb Jr.

Chuck Cobb is the senior managing director and CEO of Cobb Partners, an investment company.

Ambassador Cobb was previously the United States ambassador to the Republic of Iceland under President George H.W. Bush and was under secretary and assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Reagan. Governor Jeb Bush appointed Ambassador Cobb to be the chairman of Gateway Florida and Florida FTAA, the organizations that were leading Florida’s efforts in Western Hemisphere trade and commerce.

Earlier Ambassador Cobb was the chairman and chief executive officer of Disney Development Company and of Arvida Corporation. He served as a member of The Walt Disney Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. He also was the chief operating officer of Penn Central Corporation. Prior to that he was president, general manager or chief financial officer of various subsidiaries of Kaiser Aluminum. He earlier served as an officer in the United States Navy.

Ambassador Cobb has served on the boards of directors of nine publicly-traded corporations (Disney, Arvida, Penn Central, LNR, WCI, Southeast Banks, Pan Am Corporation, CLC of America and Banker’s Life of Nebraska) and on the boards of many other privately-held corporations.

Ambassador Cobb is the past chairman of the board of trustees of the University of Miami. He is also a former trustee of several Stanford University Endowment funds and alumni organizations and a trustee or board member of his church and many other charitable and professional organizations.

He was educated at Stanford University where he received a BA in economics in 1958 and an MBA in 1962. He is married to Ambassador Sue Cobb, the former US ambassador to Jamaica and formerly Florida’s secretary of state. The Cobbs have two sons and seven grandchildren.

Ambassadorial Post(s)

Iceland, (1989 - 1992)

Areas of Expertise

  • Economic - Finance
  • Economic - Trade