Hochberg was born on February 3, 1952. He is the first son of Lillian Vernon and Samuel Hochberg. Lillian's father fled Germany in 1933, eventually emigrating to New York City in 1937. He was named after his uncle, Siegfried Menasche, who was drafted into the U.S. Army and died during the invasion of Normandy. Lillian and Samuel had a second son, David Hochberg, in October 1956. The couple divorced in 1969. Fred Hochberg received his B.A. from New York University and an MBA from Columbia.
Business career
Hochberg began his business career at the Lillian Vernon Corporation, the company founded by his mother. As president and chief operating officer, where he led the transformation of a small, family-owned mail order company into an international, publicly traded direct marketing corporation. The company listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1987 and Forbes described the company's growth as "one of the great success stories of American entrepreneurship." Hochberg helped oversee a nearly 40-fold increase in annual revenue, from $5 million in 1975 to nearly $200 million in 1993. -to-energy plant constructed with U.S. equipment in 2014 In 1993, Hochberg left Lillian Vernon, in what was characterized as a sudden move, to start his own company called the Heyday Company. The Heyday Company was an investment firm dealing in real estate, the stock market, and venture capital funds. He served as the company's president until 1998.
Political and academic career
In 1998 Hochberg became deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration, later becoming the organization's acting administrator. He remained in the post at the SBA until January 2001, serving also on US President Bill Clinton's Management Council. At the SBA, Hochberg helped to lead aggressive outreach to minority, women, and gay and lesbian-owned businesses across the nation. Following his years in the Clinton administration, he was in December 2003 appointed Dean of the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, a post he left in late 2008. Hochberg was a bundler of contributions for the Obama campaign; some bundlers collected $500,000 for the campaign. Hochberg was an Agency Review team leader for the SBA on then-President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. President Obama formally nominated Hochberg to be Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States on April 20, 2009. The U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by unanimous consent on May 14, 2009, for a term ending on January 20, 2013. He was sworn in on May 21, 2009. During his tenure, the agency supported more than 1.4 million American jobs and financed exports with a value exceeding $240 billion, while generating $3.8 billion in profits for U.S. taxpayers and reducing internal agency costs by 30 percent. Under Hochberg, the Bank also increased its focus on customers, particularly America’s small business exporters, and in several years during his tenure, nearly 90 percent of EXIM Bank authorizations directly supported small businesses. He streamlined processes, cutting transactions times so that 98% of transactions were processed within 100 days.
LGBT activism
Hochberg has served as chair of the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent lesbian and gay rights group. In the April 2007 issue of Out Magazine he was ranked the 15th most powerful gay person in America. He lives with his partner, the writer Tom Healy. Hochberg is also a founder of the Bohnett Leaders Fellowship, an annual program for state and local elected officials operated by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Corporate and non-profit boards
Hochberg has been dedicated to public policy, community service and philanthropic involvement in expanding access to capital, civil rights, education and the arts. He recently has been a member of the boards of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, New York City's Citizens Budget Commission, FINCA International, and Seedco, a company that provides financial, technical, and management support to nonprofits and small businesses in disadvantaged communities. He was also, in 2008, a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He has also served on the boards of Playwrights Horizon and the Wolfsonian Art Museum, and on the Democratic National Committee. He also served as member of the Board of Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc.
