Stephen Andrew Feinberg (born March 29, 1960) is an American businessman and investor active in hedge fund management and private equity.^[1] He is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cerberus Capital Management. As of March 2019, his net worth is US$1.5 billion.^[2] In 2017 Cerberus also owned DynCorp, which is a major national security contractor with the US government, charging billions for overseas military and police training.^[3] On May 11, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump named Feinberg to head the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.^[4]

Early life and education

Feinberg was born to a Jewish family^[5][6] and raised in The Bronx, New York. When aged eight, his family moved to Spring Valley, New York,^[7] a suburb of New York City. His father was a steel salesman.^[7] He graduated with an A.B. in politics from Princeton University in 1982 after completing a 94-page long senior thesis titled "The Politics of Prostitution and Drug Legalization."^[8][9] While a student at Princeton, Feinberg captained the tennis team and joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.^[7]

Professional career

After graduating from college, Feinberg worked as a trader at Drexel Burnham in 1982 and later at Gruntal & Co.^[10]

In 1992, at the age of 32, Feinberg co-founded Cerberus Capital Management with William L. Richter.^[10] At the time the firm had $10 million under management; its assets under management have since grown to over $30 billion in 2016.^[11][12] In 1999, the firm hired former vice president Dan Quayle as a chairman of Cerberus Global Investment.^[13] In 2006, the firm hired former United States Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, who serves as a chairman of Cerberus.^[14]

In May 2011, Feinberg stated that he believed residential mortgage-backed securities may present "a real opportunity for continued investment for quite a period of time"^[15] and that there were opportunities in buying assets from European banks.

Feinberg has been critical about the pay received by private equity executives, stating, "In general, I think that all of us are way overpaid in this business. It is almost embarrassing."^[16] He has also noted in comments made in 2011 that smaller private equity fund sizes may be better for investor returns: "If your goal is to maximize your return as opposed to assets under management, I think you can be most effective with a big company infrastructure and a little bit smaller fund size."^[16]

Feinberg has been described as "secretive" in The New York Times.^[17] In 2007, Feinberg told Cerberus shareholders, "If anyone at Cerberus has his picture in the paper and a picture of his apartment, we will do more than fire that person. We will kill him. The jail sentence will be worth it."^[18]

Cerberus is the parent company of DynCorp, which is a major national security contractor with the U.S. government.^[3]

Political involvement

Feinberg is a major Republican donor.^[19] In 2016, he served on the Trump Economic Advisory Council during Donald Trump's presidential campaign, donated nearly $1.5 million to pro-Trump PACs, and co-hosted a $50,000 per person Republican National Committee and Trump fundraising dinner alongside other financiers.^[20][21] In February 2017, the New York Times reported that President Trump will assign Feinberg a role in the White House leading a review of the US intelligence agencies.^[22]

He is a member of The Business Council in Washington, DC, an association of chief executive officers from a broad range of companies who meet several times a year for high-level policy discussions.^[23][24]

Personal

Feinberg reportedly made $50 million in 2004. He splits time between his homes on Manhattan's Upper East Side and Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife Gisela (née Sanchez).^[7]