Private Equity Barons Snatch Up Public Service Jobs to Pad Their Profits
By Geraldo Salcedo
Wall Street’s revolving door has spun more appointees from the private equity industry into the Trump administration than ever before. CEOs, founders, and even family members have been tapped to spearhead some of the very institutions that regulate or contract their own companies. These include the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Department of Defense (DOD). These executives’ new leadership positions create conflicts of interest, allowing them to direct government actions and regulatory decisions that may potentially enrich their own companies or industry allies.
Paul Atkins
Public interest groups, including AFR, opposed Paul Atkins’ appointment to SEC Chair given his business history with private equity firms, contributions to Project 2025’s deregulatory agenda, and role in setting the stage for the 2008 financial crisis. Atkins not only provided regulatory compliance services to private equity firms but also contributed to Project 2025’s recommendations to deregulate private equity and other institutional investors. Atkins served as an acting commissioner of the SEC in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis, spearheading the deregulatory actions and lax rule enforcement that contributed to the global financial meltdown. When policymakers created Dodd Frank, the key legislative response to address the financial crisis, Atkins vocally opposed the new law’s proposed reforms.
Bill Pulte
Advocates have raised concerns that the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the FHFA, which oversees them, are facilitating private equity and other corporate landlords’ expansion in the housing market and access to subsidized home loan financing. Private equity is notorious for inflating housing costs, keeping homeownership out of reach for low- and middle-income people, and cutting corners on property maintenance. Bill Pulte, who now heads the FHFA, owns several property management and construction companies, has invested in single-family rental homes, and serves as the CEO of his own private equity firm, Pulte Capital Partners. Pulte is also a major stakeholder in PulteGroup, which is the parent company of Pulte Mortgages LLC. Pulte Mortgages is a residential financing and construction lending company that makes some of its profits by quickly selling its originated residential mortgage loans to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Pulte is poised to gain from some of his first moves in office, like eliminating requirements and oversight mechanisms that made housing more affordable and threatening the privatization of GSEs, which would give corporate investors—like himself—a huge windfall.
Pulte is also a notable campaign donor to Trump’s presidential races. Pulte donated the maximum allowable amount for individuals, $6,600, to Trump’s campaign in 2024 and in the same year contributed nearly $40,000 to the Republican National Committee and $5,000 to the Save America political action committee.
Ben Black
Ben Black was appointed CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). His father co-founded private equity giant Apollo Global Management along with Marc Rowan, a major Trump donor who contributed $1 million to pro-Trump PAC, Right for America, in September 2024. Apollo also recently purchased an unspecified amount of debt associated with Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, bolstering the platform’s financial situation.
In January 2025, Ben Black co-authored a blog post with Musk confidant and Palantir CEO, Joe Lonsdale, that advocated for shifting USAID funds to the DFC and “revamping U.S. foreign aid into an ‘investment-driven model’…that relies on private sector partnership.” Black and Lonsdale argued that private companies should become even more involved in DFC’s projects abroad, including developing “mines and shipping infrastructure in Greenland.” Private equity firms like Apollo could benefit immensely from developing new deals with the DFC by profiting from government contracts and tapping into new overseas markets. Ben Black was not among the candidates that reporters and political insiders believed had been tapped for the position, making his appointment a surprise to many.
Stephen Feinberg
One of the most outrageous examples of private equity involvement in the new administration is Stephen Feinberg’s appointment to deputy secretary of defense. Feinberg, co-chief executive of Cerberus Capital Management, now oversees the same agency that contracts with several of Cerberus’ own portfolio companies. Cerberus-owned companies have been awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in defense contracts; with Cerberus’ Co-CEO taking the number two spot at the DOD, the floodgates are open for the firm to rake in millions more. Cerberus companies have faced allegations of defrauding the government on several occasions, including claims of overcharging the government and receiving kickbacks from Iraqi subcontractors. Cerberus’ defense contractors have paid at least $9 million to settle various lawsuits from the Department of Justice.
Additionally, Feinberg has a history of donating to state Republican parties, Republican candidates, and conservative political action groups. Since 2016, Feinberg has donated nearly $2 million to these groups and campaigns, including Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. In 2020, Feinberg contributed over $700,000 to pro-Trump political action committees.
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Although private equity’s influence on some top administration officials is nothing new, the recent nominations or appointments of agency leaders with direct connections to the industry reflect a disturbing emerging pattern. Private equity players are making it known via campaign contributions and back-channel deals that they not only seek to influence, but now seek direct control over the regulations and contracts involving their firms—and the Trump administration is obliging. The private equity industry already receives public subsidies through the tax code by taking advantage of benefits like carried interest, interest deductibility, and pass-through entities. The industry also has a prominent footprint in heavily subsidized economic sectors such as healthcare and housing, which receive billions in government funding. Now, the administration is handing over top public service jobs to private equity profiteers.
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