President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 22 that he would nominate billionaire investor and Princeton alumnus Stephen Feinberg ’82 for Deputy Secretary of Defense.
In his announcement of the Department of Defense (DOD) appointments, Trump described Feinberg as part of a group of “America First Patriots” who will work with Pete Hegseth ’03, “our GREAT Secretary of Defense Nominee.” Hegseth is also a Princeton alumnus. Trump’s statement called Feinberg “an extremely successful businessman” who would “help Make the Pentagon Great Again.”
Feinberg is the co-chief executive of Cerberus Capital Management LP, a private equity firm with investments in defense contractors. In 2017, Cerberus owned DynCorp, a prominent national security contractor that has secured billions of dollars in U.S. government contracts for military and police training abroad. As of the time of publication of his article, his estimated net worth stands at $5 billion.
At Princeton, Feinberg majored in Politics and participated in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), though he left ROTC before graduating. He also captained the tennis team, leading the team to victory in the 1980 Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, and was a member of Dial Lodge, now Cannon Dial Elm Club. Feinberg’s 94-page senior thesis was entitled “The Politics of Prostitution and Drug Legalization.”
“I owe everything to my mother may she rest in peace,” Feinberg’s Nassau Herald page reads. A college senior at the time, he goes on to thank his family and his “other few real friends.”
After graduating, Feinberg began his career as a trader at Drexel Burnham before founding Cerberus at the age of 32. The firm now manages approximately $65 billion in assets.
Media representatives from Cerberus did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Unlike many past nominees for the deputy defense secretary position, Feinberg has limited experience in Washington and at the DOD. After serving on Trump’s Economic Advisory Council during the 2016 campaign, Feinberg was appointed in May 2018 to chair the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. In 2020, he was reportedly considered for a senior intelligence role within the Trump administration.
As of 2017, Feinberg had donated at least $1.5 million to pro-Trump political action committees and co-hosted a Republican National Committee and Trump fundraising dinner with a $50,000-per-person entry fee. Additionally, he and his wife contributed $715,600 to Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Feinberg’s nomination comes amid a string of controversial appointees from Trump, most notably defense nominee Hegseth, who faces claims of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. Hegseth has denied these allegations.
In addition to Hegseth and Feinberg, Trump has nominated Bridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official from his previous administration, as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and Joe Kasper, who also served at the DOD during Trump’s first term, as Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Defense.
Confirmation hearings for the President-elect’s cabinet nominees are slated to begin with the start of the 119th Congress in early January.
Sena Chang is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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