Executive Chairman - Robert Roche
Robert Roche is an international entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist. Impressed by the unsurpassed quality of the Redhorse portfolio of products and intrigued by their considerable market potential, he assumed ownership of Redhorse Performance in 2008. Since then, the leadership team has tripled the company’s sales and grown Redhorse into one of the fasting growing brands in the performance industry.
Roche has launched, managed, and invested in businesses across the U.S. and Asia in a variety of sectors. He founded and is Executive Chairman of Oak Lawn Marketing, a multi-channel direct marketing company in Japan. He developed a top-rated golf course and residential community in Utah, and through Gallup Land Partners, is developing a carbon-neutral manufacturing complex with an inland port, free trade zone, and residential housing in Gallup, New Mexico.
Along with his successful business ventures, Roche is an engaged civic leader who has served as a representative for the U.S. and Japan, and participated as a donor, advisor, and board member to many organizations. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), a non-profit that facilitates investments, joint ventures, and licensing in critical and emerging technologies across the Indo-Pacific. He also serves on the Board of a U.S. national security and foreign policy think tank, Center for New American Security (CNAS), and co-founded the Business Forward Foundation. In 2010, President Obama named him to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, a committee he served on until 2014.
Roche is the Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and is a member of the Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) as well as the Trilateral Commission—a global forum of senior policymakers and business leaders focused on addressing major global challenges. He serves as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow with the Economic Security & Policy Innovation Program (ESPI) at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo.
Roche is also a passionate philanthropist who is involved extensively in non-profit organizations focused on enhancing education, improving international relations, and building strong, sustainable communities. Endowments from Roche established a Chair for Interreligious Research at Nanzan University in Japan, and a Master of Laws in International Business Transactions at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law.
Roche received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Japanese studies at Illinois State University and earned his J.D. at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Roche is married with three children and spends time in Japan and the United States. He is fluent in Japanese and proficient in Mandarin Chinese.
To learn more, connect with Robert on LinkedIn.