Kelly Crawford Perdew (born January 29, 1967) is an American businessman and winner of '' The Apprentice 2''.

Before ''The Apprentice''

Perdew was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

and was raised in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Prior to winning the show, he was president of CoreObjects, a

software development Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invol ...

outsourcing company based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Perdew attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in national security and public affairs in 1989, graduating as the number one ranked cadet in his field of study and in the top 5% of his overall class. While at West Point, Perdew attended

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

training. In addition to his regular studies at West Point, Perdew interned with the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Defe ...

, spent a semester on "exchange" at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

, and was a finalist in the

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

competition. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

officer for three years. After his

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

as a

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

, Perdew attended graduate schools at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA), earning a joint JD/MBA degree from the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

and the

UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, also known as the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of eleven professional schools. The school offers MBA (ful ...

, respectively, in 1995. He chose not to practice law after graduation, although during law school he worked part-time at the firm of

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm includes approximately 1,400 attorneys and 1,000 staff located in 20 offices around the world, including North ...

During the show

Perdew was 37 when participating in '' The Apprentice 2'' and was the oldest candidate on the show. He was eventually chosen by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

to be his apprentice, nominally managing the construction of

Trump Place Riverside South is an urban development project in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was originated by six civic associations – The Municipal Art Society, Natural Resources Defense Cou ...

located in the Upper West Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

but in reality promoting it. It was also revealed in '' The Apprentice 3'' finale that Perdew was an executive vice-president for Trump's brand of bottled water, Trump Ice.

Current career

Perdew is the Managing Partner for Moonshots Capital – an early-stage angel syndicate. He has personally invested in over 30 early-stage technology companies and acted as a board member or advisor to many including LinkedIn and Pandora. He is the founder & CEO at TargetClose. Prior to founding TargetClose, he was the CEO of Fastpoint Games, a venture-backed leading developer of live data-driven games for the fortune 500 brand set. Fastpoint Games sold to WePlay in December 2011. Prior to Fastpoint Games, he was President of ProElite.com, a social networking site for mixed martial arts. He was also the President of eTeamz with founder Brian Johnson that is now a part of Active Network, LLC and serving over 3 million amateur sports teams. Perdew filmed nine episodes of a show called ''G.I Factory'' on the

Military Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The n ...

, which did not get picked up for a second series. He has also done a commercial titled "Today's Military" with Donald Trump, involving him accepting a "military challenge" from him. Perdew is also the author of ''Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles Learned in the Military And Put To Work For Donald Trump'' () The book focuses on leadership principles that are necessary for success in business and life and includes interviews with business/military icons such as Ross Perot, Bill Coleman and Roger Staubach. Perdew founded a company called American Family Protection, Inc. to provide government-approved training modules to U.S. families on how to respond to a terrorist attack. The interactive CD is called the Terrorist Attack Survival Kit. In June 2006, Perdew received a Presidential Appointment from President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to the Council on Service and Civic Participation. He currently serves on the board of advisors of the

Code of Support Foundation The Code of Support Foundation (COSF) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that provides assistance to military service members, veterans and their families, many of whom face multiple and complex challenges. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, the group ...

, a nonprofit military service organization.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perdew, Kelly 1967 births American business executives American business writers Writers from California Writers from Lexington, Kentucky Living people United States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni UCLA School of Law alumni Businesspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Businesspeople from Florida The Trump Organization employees 21st-century American businesspeople American drink industry businesspeople The Apprentice (franchise) winners Participants in American reality television series People associated with Gibson Dunn