Stephen Feinberg
Stephen Feinberg, who was born on March 29th 1960, is a businessman known for being in the private equity business as well as the leader and founder of Cerberus Capital Management. Born in the Bronx, New York, his family transferred to Spring Valley, another community in New York City.
Feinberg studied at Princeton University, New Jersey and graduated with a politics degree in 1982. At Princeton, he enlisted in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and was also captain of the college tennis team. Following his graduation, he was at Gruntal and Company and Drexel Burnham, working as a trader.
By 1992, Feinberg partnered with William L. Richter and established Cerberus Capital Management with $10 million under management. Since the company first started, Feinberg was at its head. To raise capital for the company, he partnered with J. Ezra Merkin and hired former lobbyists and politicians such as Dan Quayle and John Snow who were assigned in Washington as well as abroad.
Although Cerberus’ 2007 acquisition of Chrysler Corporation from Daimler Benz ended as a failure resulting in the company being sold to Fiat, it was one of the major and laudable efforts made by Feinberg.
Stephen Feinberg has been known to be a private individual. In spite his incredible wealth (he was said to have earned $50 million by 2004), his lifestyle does not reflect extravagance as compared to his peers in the PE business. He currently resides on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with wife Gisela and three daughters.
Some of Feinberg’s hobbies are: chess, skiing, game hunting, and riding on his Harley motorcycle. Apart from being in private equity, he and his wife are also supporters of the Republican Party and other Republican organizations. He has even hired Dan Quayle, the former Republican US Vice President, as Cerberus’ chairman of global investments. Moreover, former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was one of the company’s clients.