U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts was sworn in as Nebraska’s U.S. Senator on January 23, 2023.
Born in Nebraska City and raised in Omaha, Senator Pete Ricketts is the son of an entrepreneur
and a school teacher. Pete and his wife, Susanne Shore, have been married for 26 years and live
in Omaha. They have three children: Roscoe, Margot, and Eleanor.
Pete graduated from Westside High School before attending the University of Chicago where he
earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and an M.B.A. in marketing and finance.
After graduate school, Pete returned to Omaha and worked for Union Pacific before working as
a customer services representative in his family’s business, a company that would eventually
become known as Ameritrade. He went on to hold leadership roles in the company including
Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Senior Vice President of Product
Development, Senior Vice President of Marketing, President, and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Pete also founded Drakon, LLC, which supports Nebraska entrepreneurs and startup
companies, and was a past board member of TD Ameritrade’s Board of Directors and the
Chicago Cubs baseball team.
Pete was sworn in as Nebraska’s 40th Governor on January 8, 2015 and reelected to a second
term in November 2018. As governor, Pete dramatically improved services to Nebraskans, and
worked with the Legislature to deliver over $12.7 billion in tax relief, including over $10 billion
in property tax relief, by 2027. Additionally, he fully eliminated state taxes on veterans’
retirement income starting in 2022 and on Social Security benefits by 2025. Pete cut the growth
of state spending by more half and held state budgets to an average of 2.8% growth annually.
He created new workforce development programming and cut unnecessary red tape to bolster
Nebraska’s business-friendly climate. Additionally, he expanded international markets for
Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Thanks in part to the Governor’s leadership, Nebraska won
the Governor’s Cup for the most economic development projects per capita three years in a
row from 2016 to 2018. He was also appointed to serve on the Council of Governors and the
Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations by President Donald J. Trump.
Pete has also taken on leadership roles in local and state associations and organizations. He
serves on the board of the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts, as a director of the Nebraska
Game and Parks Foundation, a member of the Board of Advisors of Opportunity Education
Foundation, a member of the Archbishop’s Committee for Development, a member of the
Knights of Columbus, and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. Pete and his family attend St.
Margaret Mary’s church.
