Financier Philip M. Bilden was elected to the board of directors of Huntington Ingalls Industries, the shipbuilder with $7 billion in sales last year.
Bilden joins the Huntington Ingalls board after a financial career spent mostly spent in Hong Kong, where he ran the Asian subsidiary of HarbourVest Partners, a global private equity firm he helped found in the early 1990s. Last year, Bilden retired from HarbourVest, which reports having more than $42 billion in institutional assets under management. Bilden also served 10 years as an intelligence officer in the Army Reserves, after graduating in 1986 from Georgetown University, which he attended on an ROTC scholarship.
Earlier this year, Bilden had been tapped by President Trump to become Secretary of the Navy. Trump made the announcement shortly after his inauguration, but a month later Bilden withdrew from the nomination process citing the complexity of avoiding conflicts of interest with his vast financial holdings.
For Huntington Ingalls, though, Bilden’s financial experience is something the company’s leadership is looking forward to using when advancing sales.
“His vast investment and diverse business background are combined with a keen knowledge of Asia-Pacific markets,” said Thomas B. Fargo, board chair. “Along with his experience and concentration in areas of intelligence and cyber, he will further our efforts to create value for our shareholders and customers.”
Bilden has also served on the Board of Directors of the United States Naval Academy Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the Naval War College Foundation. Two of his sons attended the Naval Academy.
