David Young (right) in the Oval Office with John Eisenhower and President Nixon.
David R. Young, founder of Oxford Analytica, passed away on December 24, 2025, at the age of 89.
During the Nixon administration, Mr. Young became a Special Assistant to the National Security Council in 1970, serving as an administrative assistant to Henry Kissinger, then Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In 1971, he was detailed to the White House Domestic Council.
Mr. Young founded Oxford Analytica in 1975 as a consultancy conducting political economy studies and then, in 1984, with the launch of the Oxford Analytica Daily Brief. Modelled on the President’s Daily Brief, which David had watched being produced by Henry Kissinger when he was on his staff during the first Nixon administration, it became the world’s first private-sector, open-source intelligence network.
Born in New York’s Hudson Valley, Mr. Young’s career spanned law, politics, and academia in both the United States and the United Kingdom, culminating in more than four decades of leadership at Oxford Analytica. He will be remembered by friends and colleagues for his warmth, energy, and enduring intellectual curiosity.
View David Young’s memorial service here:
