A headhunting presentation aimed at recruiting Wall Street investment bankers to the Pentagon dangled access to government officials and foreign royal families that could be used to raise capital in the future, according to a slide deck viewed by The New York Times.
The presentation says that the Pentagon is seeking to build a 30-person investment team to deploy up to $200 billion in government investment over the next three years. Joining the team offers “unmatched access to top-level government officials and privileged information flow — whatever you need, you can get.”
The document was prepared by Heidrick & Struggles, a headhunting firm. It is not clear whether Pentagon staff members approved or dictated the content of the presentation, which features an agency logo.
The Defense Department declined to comment. Heidrick & Struggles did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The presentation was earlier reported by Semafor.
Officials in and around the Trump administration have continually blurred the lines between public service and individual profit seeking.
The president’s family continues to profit off a cryptocurrency venture that has received investment from foreign officials also negotiating with the government. David Sacks, the White House A.I. czar, has promoted policies that could benefit stakes he holds in hundreds of A.I. companies. In January, Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, extended a loan to a company that was also doing business with his former firm, which is now run by his sons.
The Pentagon recruiting effort dangles both money and access, offering Wall Street recruits the opportunity to manage “more capital than most investors deploy in their entire careers.” Salaries could reach as much $300,000 at the Pentagon, or $500,000 to $600,000 “if employed through a government-aligned nonprofit.” According to federal statistics, the average pay for a federal worker is about $100,000, and only about 3 percent make $200,000 or more.
The investment teams would focus on an array of industries and technologies, including undersea cables, minerals extraction and refining, strategic logistics, munitions, drones, satellites and energy generation. The Trump administration has been trying to invest to build up critical industries domestically, to reduce what national security officials see as a dangerous dependence on foreign countries, including potential rivals like China.
In addition to offering loans, the administration has begun taking a series of equity stakes in firms in industries such as mining, semiconductors and steel, in what it says will result in a better deal for U.S. taxpayers.
The presentation emphasizes the access to information and the new relationships the move could offer new recruits, as well as subsequent opportunities for enrichment.
“If you ever want to raise your own fund, you will gain access to fund-raising channels that include royal families and foreign sovereign contacts,” the slide deck says. “Your exit opportunities will be exceptional, including the potential to launch a new fund with members of this team.”
“This is not a career move, but a two-year secondment, which could lead to several exciting exit opportunities,” it says, adding, “This is also an opportunity to serve your country.”
Aaron Bartnick, a former White House assistant director for technology security and governance under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said the presentation raised major questions about how investment would be deployed, as well as how the department planned to offer salaries that would make the new recruits some of the highest-paid employees in the government.
“There is obviously potential for truly egregious corruption,” he said. “But an effort of this size has the potential to distort these national security-critical industries in ways that I don’t think anyone has seriously contemplated.”
The Pentagon has become one of the drivers of the Trump administration’s new strategy of acquiring equity stakes in companies in certain industries. While the Commerce and Energy Departments have also snapped up ownership stakes in private companies, the Pentagon is by far the most deep-pocketed agency.
That includes the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, which was established in 2022 under Mr. Biden and received an infusion of funding in President Trump’s tax bill last year.
Last summer, the office announced a $150 million loan to MP Materials, the owner of a rare earths mine. Since then, the Pentagon has taken equity stakes in other metals and mining firms, including Trilogy Metals, Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies. The investment team that the Pentagon is building would be directed at doing more deals like those.
Some lawyers and analysts have questioned whether the department has the legal authority to take such equity stakes. But with China clamping down on exports of critical minerals, there has been an urgent need for alternatives, and the investments have faced little pushback from Republicans in Congress.
The investments have been led by a new crop of private equity officials, including Stephen A. Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary. Mr. Feinberg, a billionaire, co-founded the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and was a major funder of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaigns.
According to the investment presentation, Mr. Feinberg has been tasked with overhauling the Office of Strategic Capital, and with overseeing the so-called Economic Warfare Unit, which is taking the equity stakes.
The presentation also says that the new 30-person investment team will report directly to David Lorch, the director of the Office of Strategic Capital, and George K. Kollitides II, a private equity investor and senior adviser to Mr. Feinberg. Mr. Kollitides is the former chief executive of Remington Arms, which Mr. Feinberg’s fund, Cerberus, previously acquired.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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