Stephen Feinberg

Stephen Andrew Feinberg was born into a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York, on March 29, 1960. His father, Martin, was a steel salesman. Feinberg grew up in the Bronx and Spring Valley. In high school, he was a nationally ranked chess player and played bridge and tennis.

He continued to play tennis at Princeton University, where he graduated in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in Arts & Science. While in college, Feinberg was a member of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and even participated in parachute training, but he left ROTC before graduation.

Feinberg’s first job out of college was as a trader for Drexel Burnham Lambert. He later left in 1985 for a similar position at Gruntal & Co. In 1992, Feinberg and partner William Richter founded Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm. Initially, the firm traded in distressed corporate debt. Cerberus began buying up companies, including National and Alamo car rental, the Albertson’s supermarket chain, Air Canada, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Paper products companies, and Auto parts firms.

In 2006, Cerberus bought 51% of GMAC, General Motors’ financing arm. In 2007, Cerberus gained notoriety when it purchased a controlling stake in the Chrysler division of Daimler Chrysler. However, Cerberus relinquished its stake in Chrysler during the 2009 auto bailout but retained its interest in Chrysler’s financial business, selling it later.

Around the same time Cerberus’ foray into the automotive business, Feinberg’s company began acquiring gun companies. It bought assault rifle maker Bushmaster, maker of the AR-15, in 2006; Remington Arms the following year; and rifle maker Marlin Firearms in 2008. When an AR-15 was used in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, Cerberus planned to sell its Remington unit, under which its gun manufacturing was consolidated. However, unable to do so, Cerberus was eventually forced to spin off the unit so that organizations such as the California State Teachers’ Pension Plan, which owned shares in Cerberus, would not have a stake in gun companies. In 2018, Remington, still part of Feinberg’s portfolio, went bankrupt and was overtaken by lenders.

Feinberg has been a significant donor to both Republicans and Democrats. He initially backed Jeb Bush in the 2016 election cycle but later donated almost $1.5 million to the pro-Trump Rebuild America political action committee. He also gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee. In 2016, however, he donated to the campaign of Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. 

In May 2018, President Donald Trump appointed Feinberg to lead the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.

On December 22, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced Feinberg’s nomination as Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Feinberg’s business activities through Cerberus Capital Management have sparked ethical debates. Cerberus financed the Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company that provided paramilitary training to the Saudi unit implicated in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This connection has raised alarms over potential conflicts of interest in Feinberg’s prospective role within the Department of Defense.

He is married and has three daughters.

Sources: “Feinberg, Steve,” AllGov.
“Stephen Feinberg,” Cerebrus.
“Stephen Feinberg,” Forbes.
“Stephen Feinberg,” GoodReturns.
“Trump picks billionaire Stephen Feinberg to be deputy defense secretary,” Reuters, (December 22, 2024).
“Trump nominates Stephen Feinberg as deputy secretary of defense,” Israel National News, (December 23, 2024).
Ben Samuels, “Trump’s Mideast Appointees Raise Ethical and Political Concerns,” Haaretz, (December 31, 2024).