Erik Prince is an American businessman, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater USA, now called Academi. He served as Blackwater’s CEO until 2009 and as its chairman until its sale to a group of investors in 2010. He now heads the private equity firm Frontier Resource Group and is chairman of Hong Kong-listed Frontier Services Group Ltd. To know more about him, read below.
What is Erik Prince famous for?
- An American businessman, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater USA.
When was Erik Prince born?
Recalling his early life, Erik was born in Holland, Michigan, the US in the year of 1969. Currently, he aged 50 years old. He is American by nationality and belongs to White ethnicity. He is the son of Edgar D. Prince and his wife, Elsa (Zwiep). Similarly, He is the youngest of four children in his family.
Where is Erik Prince educated?
Concerning his education details, Erik was graduated from Holland Christian High School. He went on to receive his B.A. in economics from Hillsdale College in 1992.
What does Erik Prince do?
- After college, Erik was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy via Officer Candidate School in 1992. He went on to become a Navy SEAL and deployed with SEAL Team 8 to Haiti, the Middle East, and the Balkans.
- He credits the SEALs for being an outlet for his entrepreneurial spirit. In his autobiography, he states that during the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s, he realized that there was a need for private training facilities for special operations.
- He ended his U.S. Navy service prematurely in 1995 when his father died. He assumed control of daily operations at Prince Machine Corporation for a year until 1996 when his mother sold the company for $1.35 billion in cash to Johnson Controls.
- He moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater Worldwide in 1997. He bought 6,000 acres (24 km2) of the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina and set up a school for special operations. The name Blackwater comes from the peat-colored bogs in which the school is located.
- From 1997 to 2010, Blackwater was awarded $2 billion in government security contracts, more than $1.6 billion of which were unclassified federal contracts and an unknown amount of classified work.
- From 2001 to 2010, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) awarded up to $600 million in classified contracts to Blackwater and its affiliates. It became the largest of the State Department’s three private security companies, providing 987 guards for embassies and bases abroad.
- He built a shooting range on his rural Virginia land to serve as a nearby training facility to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. In his memoir, He says that he provided the CIA with links to Afghan warlords who helped “topple the Taliban and drive al Qaeda into hiding.”
- Blackwater came under increasing criticism after the Nisour Square massacre in September 2007, in which Blackwater employees opened fire in a crowded square in Baghdad, killing 17 Iraqi civilians and seriously wounding 20 more. Three guards were convicted in October 2014 of 14 manslaughter charges, and another of murder, in a U.S. court in 2019.
- The United States Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd confirmed on February 4th, 2020, that the Department of Justice was opening an investigation into him.
Who is Erik Prince married to?
Reflecting on his personal life, Erik was a married man. He was married to Joan Nicole. Together, the pair blessed four children. The pair live blissful life until his wife died in 2003 at the age of 36 due to cancer.
Later, he was married to Joanna Ruth Hock in 2004. But the relationship is not gone forever and they were separated. Presently, he was married to Stacy Deluke, a former Blackwater spokeswoman. He has altogether seven children.
What is Erik Prince’s net worth?
Being a businessman and former US Navy SEAL, Erik has an impressive amount of money and salary from his profession. Based on some online reports, his estimated net worth said to be $2.4 billion at present. However, his salary and assets details are yet to be disclsoed.
How tall is Erik Prince?
Observing his body statistics, Erik stands a height of 5 feet 6 inches and weighs around 75 Kg. Similarly, he has a pair of brown eyes and dark brown hair color. Further, his other body information is yet to be disclsoed.
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