W. Christopher Waddell

Wayne Christopher Waddell (born June 28, 1959) is an American religious leader who has served as presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since November 14, 2025. Waddell succeeded Gérald Caussé, who was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on November 6, 2025. Waddell was called as a church general authority in 2011, Beginning in 2015, he served in the Presiding Bishopric under Caussé, with both five years as second counselor (2015–2020) and five years as first counselor (2020–2025).

As presiding bishop, Waddell oversees most of the day-to-day temporal operations of the church, including its real estate holdings, financial investments and for-profit entities.

Waddell is from Los Angeles, California and spent his career at Merrill Lynch in a variety of roles, including first vice president of investments. He and his wife, Carol Stansel, have four children.