US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is to review transactions between the Pentagon and companies linked to Cerberus Capital Management, in a move intended to address potential conflicts of interest involving the private equity firm and senior defence officials.
The arrangement was reported by Bloomberg, which cited a US official. It places Mr Lutnick in charge of examining deals involving a firm founded by Stephen Feinberg, the Pentagon’s deputy secretary.
Cerberus has extensive investments in the national security sector, including companies that have received contracts from the US Department of Defense since Mr Feinberg took office. The Pentagon has also begun providing loans and taking equity stakes in businesses judged to be important to national security.
The review is understood to go beyond existing Department of Defense ethics requirements. Mr Feinberg transferred his business interests into trusts benefiting his adult children when he entered government, but concerns have remained over the firm’s links to Pentagon decision-making.
Four former Cerberus executives have joined the department under Mr Feinberg. Two hold senior positions overseeing the Office of Strategic Capital and the Economic Defense Unit, bodies involved in strengthening supply chains for critical resources and attracting private investment to defence-related industries.
Mr Lutnick also has a direct professional connection to Cerberus. Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment bank he led before joining the Trump administration, has helped oversee Cerberus investment funds since at least 2012, according to public filings cited by Bloomberg.
Cantor Fitzgerald is now run by Mr Lutnick’s sons and acts as prime broker for a number of Cerberus funds. The review is therefore intended to provide an additional layer of oversight over transactions involving both the private equity firm and the former investment bank led by the commerce secretary.
Mr Feinberg was sworn in as deputy secretary of defence on March 17, 2025. The Pentagon describes him as the founder of Cerberus, which it says grew into a global investment firm with about $70 billion in assets.
