The return of Erik Prince, America’s notorious mercenary

In September, reports began circulating in Kyiv that a high-profile and controversial American was sniffing around for business. “Military hawks and defence privateers” described how Erik Prince – founder of the now defunct mercenary company Blackwater – had been “aggressively pitching his services” and was on a “hunt to acquire drone-makers with a footprint in Ukraine”, noted The Guardian. The rumours tallied with reports that the Trump administration may be lining up US private military contractors to operate in post-war Ukraine.

Prince has also been preparing the ground in Venezuela, where Trump has just imposed a no-fly zone and issued an ultimatum for the president, Nicolas Maduro, to relinquish power. He was in the country last year, spearheading a local fundraising campaign to oust the leftist strongman. By his standards, that action was quite mild, observes The Times of India. Prince’s more “controversial” recent operations include “advising on a drone assassination programme” in Haiti.

Suddenly it seems “America’s most notorious mercenary is everywhere”, says The Economist – at the heart of a resurgence of private military companies, his services “more in demand than ever”. Prince’s “worldview” has certainly never chimed better with those holding power in America. Unlike most mercenaries, he does not shy away from publicity. “Cocksure and combative,” he brims with “machismo” and is lauded by his friend, US secretary of war Pete Hegseth, for his “warrior ethos”.

A former US Navy Seal, Prince, 56, was born into a family of Michigan industrialists, renowned for their god-fearing ways and political activism – and had “an intensely conservative upbringing”. After leaving school, Prince joined the US Naval Academy, reportedly quitting after three semesters because “he found the place too liberal”, says The Economist.

He interned in George H.W. Bush’s White House before joining the Seals, serving in the Balkans, Haiti and the Middle East. The death of his father in 1995 brought him home. Prince sold the family business for $1.35 billion, using some of the proceeds to set up Blackwater. Quickly expanding its services, the company became internationally infamous for its activities during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and was “blacklisted” in 2007 following a “massacre” in Baghdad. Four security guards were later convicted of murdering 14 Iraqi contractors. In 2020, Trump pardoned them.

In 2009, Prince sold the remnants of Blackwater and moved to the UAE, establishing a string of new companies. The most prominent, says the Financial Times, was Frontier Services Group – a Hong Kong-listed firm, backed by China’s state-owned investment house Citic, which ran logistics for mining and energy companies in Africa. This pivot, from “Bush-era military adventures” to Chinese “Silk Road” fixer, raised eyebrows in Washington. Indeed, Prince’s attempts to re-establish himself during Trump’s first term ultimately failed, says CNN, even though his sister, Betsy DeVos was serving in the administration. “Banned from inside the Pentagon and CIA” by officials concerned his outfit “brought unwanted scrutiny and pushed the boundaries of legality”, he went on to be investigated by the UN for alleged arms trafficking to Libya.

What will Erik Prince do next?

With a more untrammelled Trump back in office and in need of on-the-ground operators, “the former pariah… has newly reestablished himself”, says CNN, doing what he does best – spotting opportunity in chaos. Prince’s return is a sign of the times, says The Economist: a world in which “private firms with private firepower” – specialising in “bringing order” – are deemed the only alternative to “total anarchy” in some countries.

This article was first published in MoneyWeek’s magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.