Cliff Fleet
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has appointed Cliff Fleet, the former head of Philip Morris USA, as the organization’s ninth president and CEO. Fleet will start his new role on Jan. 1.
Fleet, who served as president and CEO of the Henrico County-based cigarette manufacturer from 2013 to 2017, will succeed Mitchell Reiss, who led Colonial Williamsburg for five years before stepping down in October. Most recently, Fleet had worked since August as the president and CEO of New York-based 22nd Century Group Inc., a biotech firm working to reduce the levels of nicotine in tobacco plants and modify the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering and modern plant breeding.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation controls assets worth more than $1 billion, including the 18th-century Colonial America living history attraction as well as museums, lodging and other tourism draws, such as the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed Golden Horseshoe Golf Club.
