Robert Roche is an entrepreneur, investor, civic leader and philanthropist with more than 30 years of experience in the United States, China and Japan. He is the founder and President of Roche Enterprises an organization that invests in a broad range of industries with emphasis in American, Chinese and Japanese markets. Throughout his career, Robert Roche has been involved in the startup, funding and management of more than 50 companies worldwide, including Redhorse Performance and IS Seafood.
Robert Roche is the founder and Executive Chairman of Acorn International, a leading media and branding company in China, and the co-founder, Executive Chairman, and President of Oak Lawn Marketing, an omni-channel brand response company in Japan. A leader in the hospitality industry, Roche co-founded Cachet Hotel Group, a global hospitality management company, and serves as Executive Chairman. Most recently, Roche co-founded Green Rock Hemp Holdings (GRHH) with his son. The company is a processor and marketer of hemp derivatives. He also manages large real estate holdings in the United States including Sand Hollow Resort, Green River Companies and Gallup Land Partners, including the Gallup Energy Logistics Park.
Through his civic involvement, Roche has served as a representative of the U.S., and supported organizations that promote international collaboration between the U.S. and Asia. He has served as the Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai Board of Governors, and as an appointee for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations from 2010-2014. He helped found the American Business Community Nagoya (ABCN), now the Chubu Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce Japan. Roche is a benefactor of the U.S.-China Strong Foundation, an organization that works to strengthen U.S.-China relations through study abroad and other youth learning opportunities. He serves on the Board for the Center for New American Security, a bipartisan organization that conducts research and analysis on national security policies. Robert Roche also helped found the Business Forward Foundation, an advisory organization that has connected more than 100,000 American business leaders with policymakers to help develop job-creating policies.
Individually, and through the Roche Family Foundation, Robert Roche supports educational institutions, community programs and philanthropic causes in the U.S. and abroad. In 2005, he helped establish the Chair for Interreligious Research at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan through an endowment. In 2010, Roche and the Roche Family Foundation provided a $3 million gift to the University of Denver to establish a Masters of Laws (LLM) in International Business Transactions program at the Sturm College of Law.
Robert Roche completed his undergraduate education at Illinois State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Japanese Studies. He received his Juris Doctor from The University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 1988. Roche studied as an exchange student at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan, first as an undergraduate, and again in law school. He is married with three children and spends his time in Los Angeles, Shanghai, and the United States.
Robert Roche 