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The only disposable video complete nan past 15 months of nan charismatic who really wields powerfulness successful Donald Trump’s Pentagon is simply a animation animation. Released successful May connected X by nan US government, it shows a metallic haired fig successful a grey suit lighting up a cigar and sitting astatine a monolithic woody table pinch a nameplate: DEPSECWAR FEINBERG.
Stephen Feinberg, nan 66-year-old billionaire laminitis of backstage equity elephantine Cerberus Capital Management, has served arsenic nan lawman undersecretary of defense since March 2025. His boss, defense caput Pete Hegseth, makes predominant appearances working out pinch troops aliases insulting reporters astatine property conferences, and posts often connected societal media. But Feinberg does not show his face. He has been obsessively media awkward for decades, and is truthful reclusive that since his confirmation proceeding he has not testified to a azygous committee connected CapitaI Hill, has held nary property conferences and fixed nary interviews. His property spokesperson near nan authorities months into his tenure and has not been replaced.
Still, 10 group crossed Capitol Hill, nan Pentagon and nan defense contracting organization opportunity Feinberg has acold eclipsed Hegseth successful existent power and impact.
“Everything is centered astir Feinberg,” 1 seasoned Pentagon bureaucrat said.
“I don’t deliberation there’s thing that goes connected that he doesn’t person a liking in,” said a financier acquainted pinch his operations astatine nan department.
There is nary grounds that Feinberg is engaged successful Hegseth’s ideological crusades wrong nan building – scratching women aliases Black group from promotion lists for example, aliases negotiating pinch nan scouts astir its policies towards trans children. “He’s perfectly happy to fto Hegseth do that horseshit truthful agelong arsenic Hegseth stays retired of his hairsbreadth and he tin do what he wants,” said Winslow Wheeler, a defense expert and erstwhile Government Accountability Office charismatic .
Feinberg has unprecedented power complete nan Pentagon’s immense procurement network, and a singular caller expertise to put successful defense companies pinch payer dollars, each to remake nan alleged business guidelines of nan subject contracting world.
Both his critics and his supporters opportunity Feinberg shredded nan aged cumbersome rules of authorities weapons acquisition and seems to person turned nan Pentagon into its ain backstage equity powerhouse.
To thief him, he has seeded nan section pinch his loyalists – existent aliases erstwhile executives of Cerberus – he is empowering to alteration nan subject business complex.
A Pentagon official who worked pinch Feinberg told nan Guardian: “In his mind nan astir qualified group are nan group who person been moving for him for 10 years. Their full point is shaking up nan measurement authorities works.”
Feinberg concisely was nan halfway of unwanted attraction this month, erstwhile a CIA charismatic faced national charges for allegedly lying astir his background. Federal agents wrote David Rush had stashed millions of dollars worthy of golden successful his house. Feinberg, officials said, supported Rush successful a telephone telephone to nan agency earlier learning of nan scandal. A Pentagon spokesperson said Rush and Feinberg didn’t person a “close individual narration of immoderate kind”.
‘Serious conflicts of liking concerns’
One Cerberus alumnus who joined Feinberg is George Kollitides, a elder executive advisor to Feinberg who, SEC filings show, maintains his spot connected an finance company’s committee of directors. Another is Tomas Rakusan, whose activity astatine Cerberus followed a tenure astatine nan CIA arsenic a lawsuit serviceman and is different elder advisor to Feinberg astatine nan Pentagon. A 3rd is David Lorch, a Cerberus managing head moving a multibillion dollar agency to put successful captious minerals and strategical industries. John Gallagher, a Cerberus managing director, was besides brought successful by Feinberg and his Linkedin floor plan describes him arsenic Feinberg’s “Senior Advisor & Deputy Chief of Staff”, though 2 sources opportunity he has moved to different duties astatine nan Pentagon.
Even astatine an agency wherever generals and CEOs stroll done revolving doors successful a predictable pattern, Feinberg’s Cerberus unit astatine DOD has achieved an bonzer magnitude of influence.
Feinberg and Cerberus person had a breadth of investments that tally parallel to Pentagon priorities.
For example, Cerberus owns Stratolaunch, a hypersonic formation trial institution it purchased successful 2019 that announced a caller $90.8m Pentagon statement successful January. Hypersonics – high-speed manoeuvrable missiles – person been a cardinal point connected nan DOD shopping list.
Months earlier Trump won nan 2024 election, Cerberus bought power of a national contracting institution called M1 Support Services, which supplies training and operations to nan US military. This year, it launched a Saudi Arabian subsidiary.
Feinberg said successful early 2025 that erstwhile he joined nan authorities he would fully divest holdings successful Cerberus and its affiliates. Perhaps, he said, he would donate them to trusts owned by his big children. In March 2025, he certified that he did divest.
A Cerberus spokesperson told nan Guardian that “Mr. Feinberg divested his liking successful Cerberus and immoderate costs that it manages, and is not progressive pinch nan operations of Cerberus aliases immoderate of its portfolio companies successful immoderate way.”
But immoderate critics, for illustration Elizabeth Warren, nan senator, opportunity nan DOD giving contracts to a institution Feinberg founded and ran for 34 years is an inherent problem moreover if he is not personally profiting. She wrote successful a letter to Feinberg successful April that immoderate companies affiliated pinch Cerberus person been awarded contracts related to nan “Golden Dome” rocket defense system. “The grant of contracts to Cerberus-linked companies raises superior conflicts of liking concerns,” she wrote.
Warren has been bird-dogging Feinberg since he was nominated for nan Pentagon post.
“I americium concerned that your way grounds arsenic a backstage equity executive shows you deficiency nan skills and demonstrated acquisition needed to negociate and execute nan standard of reforms basal astatine nan Department of Defense,” she wrote successful February 2025.
The Pentagon powerfully disputed that immoderate conflicts of liking exist. “The Deputy Secretary is simply a man of integrity who has conducted himself ethically passim his full profession and has had a generational effect connected nan Department of War,” said Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson.
‘Economic Defense’
After Feinberg brought his squad in, successful February this year, a recently formed “blank check” institution successful nan British Virgin Islands launched an effort to raise a 4th of a cardinal dollars. The company, D Boral Acquisition I, was sponsored by Boral Capital, a boutique patient that has underwritten ventures of nan Trump family, including Trump’s media company.
The caller BVI patient raising nan money listed its board connected 12 February 2026. One was Kevin McGurn, who was an advisor to Trump Media and Technology Group astatine nan clip and is now nan interim CEO.
Another committee personnel was Kollitides, who was already moving for Feinberg astatine nan DOD. In nan SEC filing, Boral described erstwhile Cerberus partner Kollitides arsenic “Senior Executive Advisor to nan Deputy Secretary of War”. Kollitides, nan filing says, was besides a elder advisor to an finance advisory patient called “Alvarez and Marsal”.
Kollitidies, 2 sources say, is simply a “special authorities employee”, which intends that for a constricted clip play he is allowed to some activity for nan national authorities and proceed his backstage assemblage employment.
Kollitides’s dual employment and connections to Boral haven’t been antecedently reported. Feinberg installed Kollitides arsenic head of nan “Economy Defense Unit” and vice president of nan finance committee of nan agency of strategical capital. The rule creating nan “Economic Defense Unit” said that it would “report straight to nan Deputy Secretary of Defense”.
Parnell, successful a connection to nan Guardian, said: “The Economic Defense Unit is simply a captious constituent that is catalyzing these cardinal reforms and will guarantee America maintains nan strongest and astir lethal subject successful nan world.”
The Pentagon’s fund writeup has a batch of euphemisms astir what nan EDU will do. It will “proactively build nationalist economical power” and “serve arsenic nan cardinal tense strategy for nan DOW’s economical statecraft”.
But what that translates to is this: Feinberg and Kollitides – overseeing nan EDU, and nan agency of strategical superior – tin walk billions successful alleged captious infrastructure and captious minerals deals, not arsenic contracts but arsenic existent equity investments and loans.
Kollitides’s occupation oversees each of those investments. Last year, nan agency of strategical superior approved a $620m indebtedness to Vulcan Elements, which is partially owned by Donald Trump Jr. Another Pentagon money put $15m into a institution called Kopin Corp, a show institution which is associated pinch Unusual Machines, a institution partially owned by Don Trump Jr.
In January, apparently utilizing different cookware of money, the DOD moreover put $1bn into L3Harris, successful nan shape of preferred shares, truthful it could shape a caller company, though it is still unclear which portion of nan Pentagon really owns nan shares. That makes nan US nan partial equity proprietor of a patient that will make coagulated rocket motors.
As a erstwhile Pentagon charismatic says: “it’s each taxable to Feinberg’s whim.”
There is nary grounds that Feinberg and his chap Cerberus alumni are personally lining their ain pockets. “He’s a patriot,” said 1 executive who worked for him. And nan sources each opportunity Feinberg is moving diligently to hole nan Pentagon problems identified by some Democratic and Republican administrations.
“There are nary conflicts of liking pinch Cerberus,” nan Pentagon’s Parnell told nan Guardian. “The Department of War maintains a rigorous, multi-layered morals model that includes financial disclosure reviews, divestitures wherever appropriate, and screening to forestall conflicts of interest.”
But critics opportunity nary matter really good meaning Feinberg whitethorn be, nan conflicts are truthful integral to what Feinberg’s squad is doing that they can’t beryllium unwoven.
In a connection to nan Guardian, Warren said: “In nan latest Trump Administration giveaway to Wall Street, nan Department of Defense appears to beryllium mounting up a portion staffed almost wholly by labor of 1 backstage equity firm, which could make our nation’s defense business guidelines Wall Street’s latest playground. I person superior concerns astir really this mightiness effect our nationalist information and what it mightiness costs taxpayers.”
A retired subject serviceman who useful pinch nan Pentagon said group extracurricular nan building are simply not alert really influential Cerberus now is wrong nan department. “There person been revolving doors before. Frequently. But we haven’t ever had a attraction for illustration this successful nan hands of 1 company. This is different. It’s one’s organization’s halfway team.”
He said nan Cerberus power is evident connected a regular basis.
“Ultimately it’s nan different attraction of nan azygous entity; pinch an outsized domiciled of reinventing nan pentagon. Sure: Maybe conscionable having these group from 1 institution could bring efficiencies. But it tin ore each these inherent biases aliases ulterior motives.”
Moreover, nan revolving doorway conflicts astatine nan Pentagon possibly don’t guidelines retired arsenic overmuch successful an management rife pinch allegations of individual profiteering.
“Conflicts of interest?” said a erstwhile Pentagon charismatic who knows Feinberg. “That would person been a point successful erstwhile administrations but not successful this one.”
‘Special forces jockstrap sniffer’
Feinberg graduated successful 1982 pinch a bachelor’s grade from Princeton University, wherever he was nan skipper of nan tennis team. Hegseth graduated from nan aforesaid schoolhouse 21 years later. Hegseth announced past twelvemonth that nan alma mater he and his lawman stock is now excessively “woke” and subject officers can’t spell to Princeton anymore for their education.
Feinberg dove into finance, landing his first occupation astatine Drexel Burnham Lambert, nan patient made celebrated by nan junk enslaved exploits of Michael Milken, and past founded Cerberus successful 1992. He quickly became known arsenic a vulture investor, and successful 1999 astatine nan property of 39 he made nan ranks of Fortune Magazine’s richest 40 millionaires nether 40.
It’s unclear if Feinberg knew Donald Trump personally backmost then, but successful 1995 nan New York Times reported that Cerberus Partners was 1 of Trump’s investors successful nan Atlantic City Taj Mahal, which Trump had billed astatine nan clip arsenic “the eighth wonderment of nan world”.
Cerberus specialized successful troubled assets. Cerberus erstwhile lent $10m to nan cash-desperate patient of Penthouse magazine, utilizing Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus arsenic collateral. When costs was late, Cerberus sued, nan New York Daily News reported successful 1997.
Feinberg was obsessively secretive from nan start. In a uncommon disclosure successful 2006, a Portfolio mag newsman quoted Feinberg from a shareholder gathering arsenic joking that “We effort to hide religiously. If anyone astatine Cerberus has his image successful nan insubstantial and a image of his apartment, we will do much than occurrence that person, we will termination him.”
In spite of his aversion to the press, Feinberg knew really to salary for apical governmental talent, adding Dan Quayle to his world board, and bringing aboard erstwhile Canadian PM, Brian Mulroney. Likewise successful 2006, he installed John Snow, freshly departed arsenic George W Bush’s treasury secretary, arsenic nan institution chairman.
His penchant for secrecy didn’t support distant nan scandals. Cerberus dove into enterprises accused of exploiting regular Americans. For example, Cerberus bought a institution called FirstKey, whose business was buying up azygous family homes. Cerberus quickly became nan 3rd largest backstage equity institution successful that industry, pinch an estimated 22,000 homes. In 2018, a Washington Post review of Cerberus homes successful Memphis recovered nan institution “files for eviction astatine doubly nan complaint of different rental location spot managers successful nan Memphis area and threatens renters pinch removal astatine nan highest complaint among nan area’s ample guidance firms”.
Feinberg had launched a run to bargain iconic US weapon manufacturers, and stacked them nether an umbrella institution called Freedom Arms. The effort was omnivorous; they bought subject type weapons companies, for illustration Bushmaster, which made nan AR-15, arsenic good arsenic firms for illustration Marlin, champion known for its cowboy style lever-action rifles, aliases H and R, which produced coagulated hunting shotguns. Kollitides became nan CEO of Freedom Arms successful April 2012. Eight months later, a gunman killed 26 group including 20 children successful Sandy Hook, Connecticut pinch a Remington firearm. Remington was successful nan Cerberus portfolio, and nan institution decided to waste disconnected its liking successful Freedom Group.
Critics opportunity different debacle Cerberus presided complete was nan purchase, from Boston’s christianity archdiocese, of hospitals that past became portion of a for profit healthcare strategy called Steward. Cerberus sold its liking successful 2020 and 4 years later Steward declared bankruptcy. Feinberg has insisted, successful his Senate confirmation hearings, nan institution did thing wrong.
During nan US splurging connected nan world warfare connected terror, Cerberus made nan plunge into nationalist information contracting – yet nan astir important of each its ventures. One effort was mounting up a institution called Tier 1 Global, a competitor pinch nan backstage information patient Blackwater.
A root who has been to nan Tier 1 Global accommodation said they are arranged pinch slug impervious partitions to thatch Swat teams and typical forces soldiers really to clear rooms. A businessman who worked pinch Feinberg astatine nan clip said Feinberg would sometimes travel by to occurrence weapons. He said Feinberg was a “special-forces jockstrap sniffer”, utilizing an disfigured building utilized to picture admirers of precocious schoolhouse sports heroes.
Cerberus, starting successful nan aftermath of nan US penetration of Iraq, went connected a buying spree successful nan defense industry: AI, aviation, intelligence. Cerberus moreover became a awesome subordinate during Joe Biden’s presidency, successful nan world geopolitical crippled pinch China, buying up Subic Bay larboard successful nan Philippines, arsenic nan US was trying to thwart Chinese description .
So by nan clip Feinberg stepped into his 5th level agency astatine nan Pentagon successful March of 2025, nan institution had important investments successful US nationalist security.
There’s thing caller astir demands for alteration and betterment and velocity astatine nan Pentagon. “People person been saying for decades you request to betterment it,” Stacie Pettyjohn, of nan Center for New American Security, told nan Guardian.
What’s new, she says, is thing else: successful nan Trump administration it’s harder than ever earlier to travel what’s really happening down nan walls of nan Pentagon. “Its really difficult to support way of wherever nan money’s going pinch nan measurement they’re doing their budgeting process. I’d for illustration to spot wherever nan money’s going and really it’s being used.”
