Erik Prince, a key figure in global private military contracting, has reasserted himself as a powerful actor on both international and domestic fronts in 2024 and 2025. His influence has grown in parallel with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and his activities reflect a strategic expansion across multiple regions, including the Middle East and South America.
The Blackwater founder remains deeply embedded in the global private military sector. Despite previous operational failures in Iraq and Libya, he has secured new contracts in Eastern Africa and the Persian Gulf. Frontier Services Group, his new firm, reportedly received a twenty-million-dollar payment from South Sudan’s Government for logistical support. He has also cultivated economic and strategic ties stretching from Washington to Beijing, underlining his continued relevance in the international defence and logistics industry. [source, source]
Erik Prince is also actively seeking and establishing security-related ventures in Latin America, with recent government-sponsored publicity stunts in Ecuador and El Salvador. Furthermore, Prince has good rapport with Venezuelan government officials and opposition figures as an international envoy and security influencer. [source, source, source]
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Profile
Erik Prince (DOB: 06/06/1969) was born in Holland, Michigan. He began his academic studies at the United States Naval Academy, leaving after three semesters to transfer to Hillsdale College, a private conservative Christian school with ties to the Heritage Foundation and recently made famous for its involvement in the formulation of Project 2025, the plan to overhaul the U.S. Government and consolidate executive power that is currently shaping events in Washington. Prince left Hillsdale with a degree in economics. While in college, he served as an intern in the White House under President George Bush and California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. [source]
The United States Navy accepted and commissioned Prince after graduation through the Officer Candidate School. He underwent Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, completing the six-month course with Class 188 in 1993. Later, he deployed with Seal Team 8 as a Naval Special Warfare Officer (1130). [source, source]
Following several rotations to the Middle East, the Balkans, and Haiti, Prince left the Navy and founded Blackwater, a security training facility that mutated into a private military company. Erik Prince developed his reputation as a major contractor by securing private contracts with the Department of Defence during the Iraq War and Enduring Freedom. [source]
After facing several investigations in the United States, including for unlawful deaths during contract work in a war zone, Erik Prince changed the name of his company a few times–including Xe Services and Academi–before shifting his business into the Middle East and the Far East. Currently, he is the founder of Frontier Services Group (FSG), a logistics and security company aimed at supporting Chinese commercial ventures in Africa and Asia. [source, source]
Prince comes from a politically-active family. His sister, Betsy DeVos, a former Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, was appointed Secretary of Education by Donald Trump during his first term in the White House. Erik’s father, Edgar Prince, formed a foundation known for supporting Republican-affiliated conservative Christian organizations, such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. The family also has deep ties to the Council for National Policy, which focuses on the restoration of religious freedom and Judeo-Christian values in government. In 2017, Erik himself considered running for senator as a representative of Wyoming, and he received vocal support from far-right influencer and Trump supporter Steve Banon, but he ultimately did not pursue candidacy.
