Erik Prince
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Erik D. Prince (born June 6, 1969 in Holland, Michigan) is the founder and sole owner of the military support contractor Blackwater USA.[1] Testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 2, 2007, he gave his title as Chairman and CEO of the Prince Group and Blackwater USA.[2]
Career
A millionaire and former US Navy SEAL, after high school he briefly attended the United States Naval Academy before attending and graduating from Hillsdale College. After college, he earned a commission in the United States Navy after joining in 1992, and served as a Navy SEAL officer on deployments to Haiti, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, including Bosnia. When his father Edgar Prince unexpectedly died in 1995, he ended his Navy service prematurely. After Prince's mother, Elsa Prince, sold the family's automobile parts company, Prince Corporation, for $1.3 billion to Johnson Controls, Inc., Prince moved to Virginia Beach and personally financed the formation of Blackwater USA in 1997.
Family
Prince's father, Edgar Prince, was a founder of the Family Research Council with Gary Bauer.[3] Prince is the brother of Betsy DeVos, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Michigan and wife of former Alticor (Amway) president and Gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.[4] Prince's first wife, Joan Nicole Prince, died of cancer in 2003, and he has since remarried and has six children.[5]
Philanthropy & donations
He serves as Vice President of the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation which gives money to organizations of the Christian right. Salon reports that "between July 2003 and July 2006, the foundation gave at least $670,000 to the FRC and $531,000 to Focus on the Family."[6] He also serves as a board member of Christian Freedom International, a nonprofit group with a mission of helping "Christians who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ."
Since 1998, Prince has personally donated over $200,000 to Republican causes.[7][8]
Relations with the media
Prince is noted for disliking having his photo taken and distributed; he often uses his hands to shield himself from photographers. While attending a technology conference in North Carolina, he was visibly uncomfortable when photographed on stage and officials asked that the images not be published.[7] He also frequently turns down interview requests.[1] Some have claimed that this media-shyness is due to fear of terrorist reprisals for his role in creating Blackwater USA.[7]
Blackwater USA controversies
On October 2, 2007 Prince was subject to a congressional hearing conducted by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform following the controversy related to Blackwater's conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.[9]
See also
- Blackwater Baghdad shootings
- Blackwater USA arms smuggling
- Helvenston et al. v. Blackwater Security
- Scott Helvenston
References
- ^ a b Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton, Crown, 2006, p. 1 Cite error: The named reference "Pelton_Kill_P1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Statement of Erik D. Prince, Chairmand and CEO, Blackwater For The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 2, 2007. PDF hosted by Iraqslogger.com of public record document.
- ^ In the Black(water), Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, May 22, 2006.
- ^ Hampton Roads
- ^ Erik Prince Chairman, Blackwater USA, LA Times, October 3, 2007.
- ^ The Bush administration's ties to Blackwater, by Ben Van Heuvelen, Salon, October 2, 2007.
- ^ a b c Mike Barker, AP, "Testimony Lifts Veil on Blackwater Boss", October 2, 2007.
- ^ Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties, NPR, Corey Flintoff, September 25, 2007.
- ^ BBC News, "Blackwater boss grilled over Iraq", October 2, 2007.
External links
- Christian Freedom International website
- Newsobserver article concerning Blackwater plane crash
- Hampton Roads interview of Erik Prince
- Hampton Roads "Blackwater Top Brass"
Further reading
- Licensed Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton, 2006. Prologue, which opens with an account of a meeting with Erik Prince; Chapter 2, and Chapter 11, "The Lord and the Prince" which contrasts the owner of Hart Security with that of Blackwater.
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