Jon M. Huntsman is chairman and founder of Huntsman Corporation. He started the firm with his brother Blaine in 1970. By 2000, it had become the world's largest privately held chemical company and America's biggest family owned and operated business, with more than $12 billion in annual revenues before going public in early 2005. He was a special assistant to the president in the Nixon White House, was the first American to own controlling interest of a business in the former Soviet Union, and is the chairman of the Board of Overseers for Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. Mr. Huntsman also served on the boards of numerous major public corporations and organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Red Cross. The Huntsman businesses fund the foundation that is the primary underwriter for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a leader in the prevention, early diagnosis, and humane treatment of cancer. He resides with his wife, Karen, in Salt Lake City, Utah, where his oldest son, Jon Jr., was elected governor in 2004.