John Cartwright Phelan (born 1964) is an American businessman, political donor, and art collector serving as the 79th United States secretary of the Navy under President Donald Trump.
Phelan earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in 1986, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990. While he was an undergraduate, he studied abroad in London and took classes at the London School of Economics.
He is the co-founding partner and chief investment officer of MSD Capital, a private investment company established in 1998 to manage the capital of Michael Dell.
In 2022, Phelan resigned as CEO of MSD and founded Rugger Management LLC, a private investment company based in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Phelans regularly host fundraising events at their homes in Palm Beach and Aspen. In 2022, they hosted a fundraiser for amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research, that raised $5.3 million. In August 2024, they hosted a private fundraising dinner for Trump; the guests, who included Steve Wynn, Thomas Peterffy, Greg Abbott, Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert and Cory Gardner, donated between $25,000 and $500,000 apiece.
Phelan was a donor for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, raising $12 million.
On November 27, 2024, president-elect Trump announced Phelan as his nominee-to-be for United States Secretary of the Navy. Many noted his lack of experience with the Navy, the military, national-security policy, and the defense industry. "Not all service secretaries come into the office with prior military experience, but he'd be the first in the Navy since 2006," the Associated Press reported.
Phelan testified before the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services on February 27, 2025. He was confirmed with bipartisan support by a vote of 62âÂÂ30 on March 24, 2025, and sworn in as the 79th Secretary of the Navy the next day.
In 2000, Phelan met his future wife Amy on a blind date. A former cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys, Amy was working as a management services and systems engineering consultant in Dallas. They have a daughter who is a New York CityâÂÂbased artist and socialite.
John and Amy Phelan have a home in Aspen, Colorado, valued at $38 million, where they display part of their art collection. They also have a home in Palm Beach with more of their art collection, including works by Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning. They also have an apartment on Park Avenue in New York City.
Passenger manifests released as part of the Epstein files indicate that Phelan flew twice on the plane of Jeffrey Epstein several months before Epstein's first arrest on sex charges. The first flight took place on February 27, 2006, from New YorkâÂÂs John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Luton Airport. The manifest for the second flight, from London to New York on March 3, 2006, indicates that Phelan flew with 12 other passengers, including Epstein, modeling agent and Epstein associate Jean-Luc Brunel, and six people whose names are redacted on the version of the manifest released in October 2025 by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.