Born in NYC, Adler became a lawyer and moved to Washington DC, where he got involved in energy policy, working with a lobbying group, establishing an energy related nonprofit, and eventually running a group of companies that developed vehicle technology currently on the roads around the world. He co-produced an award winning documentary with PBS (with music by Radiohead). He co-backed the first synthetic biology company incubator on the Ames campus of NASA, the first synthetic biology investment fund, and the first Advanced Biosequestration Summit. He has a long history in tax planning and asset structuring for HNWI and philanthropists, and gave the keynote address to the annual meeting of the Family Office Association.