# Erik Prince

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Erik Prince," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/erik-prince/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Founder of Blackwater; CIA non-official-cover officer with a 201 file; identified publicly by Leon Panetta in front of the House Intelligence Committee; lives in Dubai outside U.S. jurisdiction; in popular culture invoked, alongside Elon Musk, as the composite figure for the billionaire in the Tyrell Vanto film featuring John Kiriakou.*

- **Founded:** [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater)
- **CIA status:** Non-official cover (NOC); had a 201 file
- **Publicly outed by:** [Leon Panetta](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leon-panetta), to the House Intelligence Committee
- **Current residence:** Dubai
- **Reason for relocation:** Avoidance of U.S. jurisdiction following the Panetta disclosure

**Erik Prince** is the founder of [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater), the private military contractor that performed paramilitary and intelligence work for the [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) in the post-September 11 period — including operation of the agency's [Global Response Staff](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/grs-global-response-staff) program and, until its shutdown by [Leon Panetta](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/leon-panetta), a worldwide assassination program. Prince was a [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) non-official-cover officer with an internal 201 file.[1]

## Public disclosure and Dubai relocation

Prince's CIA affiliation was publicly disclosed when Panetta, on taking over as CIA Director in 2009, terminated the Blackwater assassination program and, in the course of explaining the decision to the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, identified Prince by name. *"That's why Erik Prince lives in Dubai now and not in the United States."* He is described by [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) as having relocated to Dubai specifically to avoid U.S. legal exposure following the disclosure.[1]

## Contractor model

Prince's standard practice in building [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater) was to populate the company's board of directors with former CIA personnel and to install [Cofer Black](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cofer-black) — formerly head of the agency's Counterterrorism Center — as Vice President. Kiriakou describes the post-9/11 financial logic from the CIA side: *"When Erik Prince goes to the CIA and says, 'Yeah, I'll do all these things for you. We've got assassination squads. We've got interceptors. We've got boots on the ground. We'll do anything you want. I want a billion and a half dollars.' Then the CIA wires it the next day."*[2][3]

## In popular culture

Prince is invoked, alongside Elon Musk, as the composite real-world figure for the dying billionaire protagonist in the 2025–26 film written and directed by [Tyrell Vanto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/tyrell-vanto) in which [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) made his acting debut.[4]

## See also

- [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater)
- [Cofer Black](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cofer-black)
- [Global Response Staff](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/grs-global-response-staff)
- [Ninth Circuit contractor ruling (2025)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ninth-circuit-contractor-ruling-2025)

## Sources

1. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 1:00:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=3632s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
2. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 1:01:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=3665s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
3. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 1:02:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=3727s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/
4. John Kiriakou's LIVE REACTION to becoming a Meme (2026-02-28), at 06:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_CVvJ0oRg&t=376s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-02-28-julian-dorey-meme-reaction/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/erik-prince/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt