ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Distinguished Alumnus John Phelan ’86 Confirmed as U.S. Secretary of the Navy
Phelan graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude with distinction with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science.
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ alumnus John Phelan ’86 has been confirmed by The Senate Armed Services Committee as United States Secretary of the Navy. Phelan, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude with distinction from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science, was recognized with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022 for his extraordinary achievements, outstanding character and good citizenship.
Phelan is the co-founder and chairman of private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. Prior to launching Rugger, he co-founded MSD Capital LP, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. Phelan was also the co-founder of MSD Partners LP, an SEC-registered investment advisor that was formed to enable a select group of outside investors to invest in strategies that were initially developed by MSD. Phelan is chairman emeritus of MSD, and during his leadership at MSD, the firm posted double-digit net returns and over $20 billion in profits.
Prior to forming MSD, Phelan was a principal for seven years at ESL Partners, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm. At ESL, Phelan was responsible for ESL’s Special Situation and Distressed Investments and helped grow the firm from $50 million to over $2 billion in assets under management. Prior to ESL, Phelan was a vice president at the Equity Group and led acquisitions for the Zell-Merrill Lynch Real Estate Opportunity Funds. Phelan began his career at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he worked as a financial analyst in the Investment Banking Division.
Phelan received his MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a general course degree with an emphasis in economics and international relations from the London School of Economics. He is on the Board of Trustees at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Aspen Art Museum and Board of Directors at Spirit of America and Third Option Foundation. He is also involved with his respective alma maters and currently serves on the Board of Dean’s Advisors for the Harvard Business School, the Investment Committee for the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Endowment and the North American Advisory Board for the London School of Economics. Phelan and his wife, Amy, have permanently endowed free admission to the Aspen Art Museum and recently named the Phelan US Centre at LSE.