U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Vincent Viola to be secretary of the army.
Viola founded several businesses, including Virtu Financial, an electronic trading firm. He also owns a hockey team in the National Hockey League and is a former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In a statement on December 19, Trump said Viola was "living proof of the American dream."
Viola grew up in a family of Italian immigrants in Brooklyn. His father worked as a truck driver.
Viola is a 1977 West Point graduate. He trained as an airborne ranger infantry officer and served in the 101st Airborne Division. He is a graduate of New York Law School.
In 2003, he founded and helped fund the creation of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
