Who Is Massad Boulos, the Lebanese American Tycoon and Trump Adviser?

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s selection of Massad Boulos as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs may put Mr. Boulos, an automotive tycoon who is also Mr. Trump’s in-law, in a position to exert considerable influence over U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Mr. Boulos, whose son is married to Mr. Trump’s daughter Tiffany, was picked by Mr. Trump on Sunday for a role that could prove pivotal as the Trump administration faces myriad crises in the region: a tenuous cease-fire in Mr. Boulos’s native Lebanon; a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip; and a civil war in Syria, mostly dormant for years, that has rapidly escalated in recent days.

For Mr. Boulos, once a relatively obscure entrepreneur, his appointment followed a meteoric rise to prominence in recent months.

During the election campaign, he helped garner support for Mr. Trump among Arab Americans in Michigan, a key battleground state. He has become a familiar face on Lebanese television, spreading the incoming Trump administration’s message. And he has acted as something of a de facto liaison between Mr. Trump and Middle Eastern leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority.

Born in Lebanon, Mr. Boulos hails from an influential Greek Orthodox family from the northern Lebanese town of Kafaraka, known for its olive oil. The family has played a role in local and national politics for nearly a century.

Despite brief forays into Lebanese politics himself, Mr. Boulos has said he is not affiliated with any political party inside the country, according to Newsweek. He is considered, however, to have close ties to the country’s Christian elite, and has labeled himself as a friend of Suleiman Frangieh, who has previously been named by Hezbollah leaders as the group’s top pick for Lebanon’s president, and is closely allied with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.