Naphtali Rivkin

What are you doing now?

I work in corporate intelligence and investigations, which is similar to the role I used to have in the government, just for different stakes and stakeholders. My clients are lawyers trying cases, investors making M&A decisions, and CEOs looking into wrongdoing or misconduct. I thought I would miss the government mission more, but with so many national security priorities playing out in the financial, legal, cyber, and corporate spaces, I feel like my work can perhaps both serve my clients' interests as well as the nobler aims of justice and international security.

How has the Fellowship impacted your career?

National governance can seem like a big impenetrable machine to college seniors, but the Fellowship's focus on the presidency and Congress I think rightly keeps human beings at the heart of that big machine. My Fellowship was the first time I began to really think and write about how much of our national security, prosperity, and policy really hinges on the competence, convictions, and character of very few people. I think it has served me well to bring that perspective to every station of my career. Behind any meaningful corporate, military, legal, financial, and geopolitical decision there are really just a few key people writing memos, making spreadsheets, moving money, and signing on the line. Figuring out their hopes, fears, dreams, beliefs, perceptions, and incentives is how I try to get to the heart of every matter. 

What is your favorite memory of the Fellowship?

I know that the program has changed a bit, but I really enjoyed the year-end conference where the student-authors of the top three papers presented their theses. I was really impressed by the speakers, and learned a lot from them. 

If you could have any job in the world, what would you do?

I mean, I really love my job! I don't think I would be good at anything I didn't like. I guess I wanted to be a chef ever since I was a kid, but realized pretty quickly I could never hack it in an actual professional kitchen.