Steve Feinberg
Deputy Secretary of Defense; co-founder, Cerberus Capital Management
architect
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Profile
Stephen Feinberg is a billionaire financier who built Cerberus Capital Management into one of the largest private equity firms in the United States. During the first Trump administration he chaired the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2018 to 2021. In 2025 he was confirmed as the 36th U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Why they matter
Feinberg has moved quickly to accelerate commercial AI procurement inside the Pentagon, ordering $244 million in Palantir products and issuing a directive memo on expanding the relationship — a signal of how private-equity instincts are shaping defense AI investment at the department’s second-highest level.
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