Tony West

Derek Anthony West (born August 12, 1965) is an American attorney, former government official, and the senior vice president and chief legal officer of Uber. Before Uber, West was the 17th associate attorney general of the United States and general counsel of PepsiCo. West previously served as the assistant attorney general of the Civil Division, the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice, and was the first African American to hold that position.

During his time at the Department of Justice, West played a role in the administration's decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) after concluding that the statute was unconstitutional. West was also involved in efforts by the department to reclaim $37 billion from large financial institutions and worked on the department's efforts to improve public safety in Indian country, including the tribal provisions in the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). On August 21, 2014, West announced a $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America to resolve federal and state claims against Bank of America including its existing and former subsidiaries, including Countrywide Financial Corporation and Merrill Lynch.

West is the brother-in-law of former Vice President Kamala Harris. He served as an advisor to her 2024 presidential campaign.

Early life and education West was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret "Peggy" (née Reddick) and Franklin Delano West (1940–2013). West was raised in San Jose, California, where he lived with his two younger sisters, Pamela and Patricia. His father, the first person in his family to attend college, was born and raised in Georgia and worked for IBM while his mother, who was a teacher, was born and raised in Alabama. He attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, a Catholic, all-male, private secondary school, where he served as freshman class president, before graduating in 1983.

West earned his Bachelor of Arts in government from Harvard College in 1987, where he served as publisher of the Harvard Political Review. In 1988, West began volunteering and working on political campaigns, engaging in Democratic political causes, such as working as the chief of staff to the Boston, Massachusetts treasurer of Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign. West also served as a finance director to the Democratic Governors Association, until 1989. While attending Stanford, he worked as a summer intern for Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman in 1990. From 2001 to 2009, he was a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco. He also served as the California co-chairman of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

West serves on the board of directors for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

U.S. Department of Justice West began his career at the Justice Department when he joined the Clinton administration in 1993, as a Special Assistant under Philip Heymann, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice, until 1994, when he was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Northern District of California. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, West prosecuted child sexual exploitation, fraud, narcotics distribution, interstate theft, and high tech crime.

In 2009, West returned to the Justice Department when President Obama nominated him to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice Civil Division. West led the Obama Administration's review of the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which ultimately resulted in President Obama's and Attorney General Holder's decision to stop defending DOMA. During his tenure at the helm of the Civil Division, the Division recovered more than $8.8 billion in taxpayer money under the False Claims Act. On the consumer protection front, West oversaw cases that resulted in more than 115 criminal convictions, as well as recoveries of more than $3.5 billion, during his three-year tenure.

Associate Attorney General

Beginning on March 9, 2012, West served as the Acting Associate Attorney General until the U.S. Senate confirmed West to be Associate Attorney General in a 98–1 vote on July 25, 2013. In September 2014, when Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to step down, West was speculated as being a potential successor as the next United States Attorney General.

As Associate Attorney General, West led the department's efforts against financial institutions in connection with their roles in precipitating the Great Recession. These include two of the largest civil resolutions against a single entity in American history: Bank of America ($16.65 billion) and JPMorgan ($13 billion). In total, the department's efforts recovered nearly $37 billion.

Additionally, West led the department's investigation and filing of a civil lawsuit against the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Rating Services for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud investors in structured financial products, resulting in the loss of billions of dollars by investors, many of whom are federally-insured financial institutions. The investigation and lawsuit involved collaboration with several state attorneys general offices, a number of which also filed civil fraud lawsuits against S&P alleging similar misconduct in the rating of structured financial products.

West also led the department's commitment to supporting the provision of indigent legal defense. In June 2014, West represented the United States at the U.N.'s International Conference on Access to Legal Aid in the Criminal Justice Systems in South Africa. In 2013, West oversaw the department's filing of a statement of interest in Wilbur v. City of Mount Vernon (WD Wash.), a class action lawsuit alleging that accused defendants were systemically denied effective assistance of counsel. Without taking a position on the merits of the case, the filing requested that if the court found constitutional violations, it consider workload controls for public defenders and appointment of an independent monitor to ensure compliance. The plaintiffs in the case prevailed on the merits and the court required defendants to hire a part-time public defender supervisor to monitor and report the defendants' delivery of indigent defense representation.

Native American issues During West's tenure as Associate Attorney General, the Justice Department secured passage of tribal provisions in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, allowing tribal courts to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators of domestic violence in Indian country. West oversaw a consultation with tribes to implement the Pilot Project, which allowed tribes to exercise the special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians ahead of the law's March 2015 effective date. West authorized three tribes – the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation – to become the first tribes in the country to exercise the new jurisdiction.

Supreme Court cases National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 132 S.Ct. 2566 (2012), 567 U.S. 519 (as Assistant Attorney General, one of several attorneys for Respondents) Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd, 131 S.Ct. 2074 (2011), 563 U.S. 731. (as Assistant Attorney General, one of several attorneys for the Petitioner.) Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, 130 S.Ct. 3138 (2010), 561 U.S. 477 (as Assistant Attorney General, one of several attorneys for the Respondent)

PepsiCo On October 7, 2014, PepsiCo, Inc. announced that West had joined the company as executive vice president of government affairs, general counsel, and corporate secretary, effective November 24, 2014. West succeeded Larry Thompson, who retired after a decade with the company.

In 2020, the first year in which West was named as an executive officer at Uber, he received nearly $12.3 million in total compensation. In 2021, West received $7.4 million in compensation from Uber, and in 2022 West received a pay package worth more than $10.6 million, an increase of 40% over the previous year. In 2023, West received almost $10.4 million in compensation from Uber.

Political campaigns Vice President Harris and her family walk to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20, 2021. In 1998, West ran for a seat on the San Jose City Council. In the primary, West's main challenger was Cindy Chavez, the staff director of Working Partnerships USA. He came in second to Chavez in the June 2 primary, with 41.2% of the vote. West was ultimately defeated, receiving 48% of the vote in the general election.

West also ran for the California State Assembly, for the 23rd district, in 2000.

West chaired the Barack Obama California fundraising committee for his run in 2008.

On November 30, 2016, Senator-elect Kamala Harris announced that West, her brother-in-law, would co-chair her transition team.

West served as an adviser for the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign.

Personal life West married Maya Harris, the sister of former Vice President Kamala Harris, in July 1998. He is the stepfather to her daughter, Meena Harris, who Maya Harris had as a single parent. They were both in the class of 1992 at Stanford Law School. They became friends at school, but did not begin a relationship until after graduation.