Philip Bilden Biography and Net Worth

Philip M. Bilden is a private equity investor who serves as chairman & managing partner of Shield Capital LLC, venture capital firm investing in frontier technologies in AI, cybersecurity, autonomy and space ISR to support government and commercial customers.

He retired in June 2016 as senior advisor and co-founding member of the private equity firm HarbourVest Partners, a leading global private equity investment management firm. He began his career in Boston in 1991 and relocated to Hong Kong in 1996 to establish the firm’s Asian subsidiary. Bilden was responsible for the firm’s investment strategy and execution, capital raising, and client service activities throughout the Asia Pacific region, managing personnel and partnerships in multiple countries and cultures. Throughout his 25-year tenure at HarbourVest Partners, he served in senior leadership roles in the firm’s global management, including the firm’s six-person executive committee responsible for governance.

Bilden served on the advisory boards of several international private equity partnerships, including funds managed by Archer Capital (Australia), Bain Capital Asia, Brait Capital Partners (South Africa), Castle Harlan Australian Mezzanine Partners (CHAMP), KKR Asia, Latin American Enterprise Fund, Olympus Capital (Asia), Pacific Equity Partners (Australia), TPG Asia and Unitas Capital (Asia). He served as inaugural chairman of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association from 2011-2012 and presently serves on the advisory board of Contrast Capital Management, LLC.

Bilden also serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Naval War College Foundation and inaugural chairman of the Center for Cybersecurity Conflict Task Force; a member of the Navy League of the United States, Palm Beach Council; and a member of Business Executives for National Security. He has previously served on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel (2017-2021), the Board of Directors of the U.S. Naval Institute, the Board of Visitors, Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, and the Dean’s Board of Advisors and Asia Pacific Advisory Board, Harvard Business School.

A 1986 graduate of Georgetown University, Bilden holds a Bachelor of Science degree in foreign service (magna cum laude). He is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Georgetown’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corps and served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer from 1986-1996. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1991.