Justin Fulcher led a telemedicine startup that became bankrupt, not paid invoices accused and seems to have overvalued his login information. Now he’s one among Doge’s lines within the Pentagon.
From David JeansForbes Staff
FOr weeks Pentagon officials had prepared for the arrival of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and wondered who the richest man on the earth had dismantled to watch an unprecedented revision of the one largest department of the US government.
Now, Forbes Has learned that one among the chosen employees of Musk, who bring a chainsaw to the Pentagon budget of the Pentagon, is a serial entrepreneur with a master’s degree in terrorist studies called Justin Fulcher, such an official from the Pentagon and two other individuals who were informed about his work.
A take a look at his profession indicates that he’s a successful entrepreneur: the founder of worldwide telemedicine startups and a charity that focuses on increasing access to web connectivity and health care in South Carolina. It was also behind a 500 million plan to speculate in a sophisticated production work that was celebrated by the Biden administration.
And like a series of Doge settings in front of him, Fulcher, who founded his first software company as a teen Forbes; Several people said he claimed that as a teen to have done programming work for the FBI (the FBI refused to comment).
However, a more precise examination of Fulcher’s profession also indicates that his services don’t at all times sum up, reminiscent of internal corporate documents and interviews with 10 individuals who have worked with him. The Telemealth Company Ringmd, based in Singapore in Singapore, went bankrupt, for instance, after collecting greater than $ 10 million from investors. His try to restart it within the United States led to legal disputes with a business partner who claims that Fulcher owes him lots of of 1000’s of dollars. And the production facility for half a billion dollars funded by the bid administration appears to be one among the few claims which have never come about.
Do you’ve a tip? Contact David Jeans at djeans@forbes.com or 347-559-5443 under Signal.
Fulcher’s national security registration information can also be unclear. In 2023 he received a master’s degree in non -distribution and terrorism studies on the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. One of his professors, Jason Blazakis, described him as “a clever guy, hard worker”. On his LinkedIn, Fulcher also claims a doctorate on international relationships and matters of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. But John Bates, who monitors the coed records on the university Forbes The “We have no records about this person as a student.”
The non-profit fule-based fulcher based in South Carolina began in 2023, the Palmetto initiative found on its website that it was a US US charity within the USA 501 (C) (3). However, the organization’s identification number doesn’t correspond to the Internal Revenue Service Records. In an evidence, Shannon Wiley, General Counsel of the State Secretary of South Carolina, said the organization was founded as a non -profit organization, “however,” didn’t register as a non -profit means within the state of South Carolina. ” The IRS rejected an announcement.
Fulcher didn’t reply to several comments. After Forbes The Palmetto Initiative website contacted him and mentioned that it was a charity. On his LinkedIn page, the mention of his doctorate by John’s Hopkins was updated to find out that it’s “in progress”.
The Muschus led by Doge efforts brought each hope and despair to the Federal Government’s workforce and promised to scale back uncontrolled bureaucracy and the associated fee and 1000’s of jobs and 1000’s of jobs. Defense Minister Pete Hegseth Doges celebrated arrival in Pentagon, where the officials are planning to scale back as much as 50 billion US dollars from his household. “You will be involved in what we do at DOD to fraud, waste and abuse in the greatest discretionary budget in the federal government” said In an address in February. “We concentrate as much as possible on the headquarters as well as fat and top stuff with which we can invest somewhere else.”
On Monday the chief spokesman for Pentagon, Sean Parnell, said in a single video Published by X that Doge had identified programs to shorten the “probably 80 million US dollars in wasteful expenses”, and initiatives related to the “strengthening of democracy” and Dei. “We work with Doge in the glove,” he said.
Forbes I couldn’t learn the way Fulcher was connected to the Doge team or whether he had a security approval. Forbes Previously reported that Doge’s employees were employed directly by the Ministry of Defense with a purpose to concentrate exclusively on the efficiency mandate.
The Pentagon rejected an announcement and referred Forbes To Doge, which is monitored by the White House. The white house declined a comment.
According to the FEC recordings, Fulcher has donated almost 40,000 US dollars to Republican legislators and political motion committees since 2020. He is an extended -time admirer of Muschus who tells Forbes In a 30 -under -30 application in 2017 that the billionaire was his “dream mentor”. In recent times, he has publicly asked for a rating list to speculate the general public participation in the federal government. “Each of us plays a role in the ongoing history of our nation” wrote In a blog post in August 2024. “Serve with courage and to contribute to the permanent history of America.”
Fulcher moved to Southeast Asia after leaving Clemson University in 2011. There he began Ringmd with the aim of helping impoverished communities with Telemealth services. In 2017, as a part of his 30 -below -30s application, he said Forbes The company had doctors from greater than 30 countries that served lots of of 1000’s of Ringmd users. “We literally connected thousands of people for their first conversation with a qualified doctor!” he wrote.
He appeared to embody the successful startup entrepreneur and move the corporate to an upscale office in Singapore. Microsoft, which Ringmd provided its Azure Cloud services, published blog posts published support financially Fulcher’s work within the region. This yr he was chosen for the Forbes Asia list 30 under 30.
But in 2018 Ringmd had no more cash, the payment of employees and, based on Singapore and 6 individuals who worked with him, went bankrupt. In an e -mail in October 2018, Fulcher apologized to the staff and promised to repay them, but suggested that “investors actively fight against the team that gets absolutely anything.”
Such implosions are typical of startups. But Fulcher was not ready with Ringmd and restarted the corporate within the United States the next yr. With an unknown investment of a health care provider based in Boston alleged Thanks to the aspiring telemedicine efforts in Chile, the Philippines and India, the corporate would now achieve annual recurring income of USD 632,000. According to PitchBook, attention contributed to increasing a small amount of seed financing.
While the corporate didn’t announce another financing rounds, Fulcher announced great investments. In November 2023, the White House observed $ 50 billion in private sector investments within the Asia-Pacific region in front of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Ringmd was amongst them and claimed to speculate 5 million US dollars within the “digital infrastructure” to advertise telemedicine in India and 6 million US dollars to modernize the Vietnam Ministry of Health. The Vietnam Health Ministry and a representative of Digital India, which supervised the India partnership of Ringmd, didn’t answer a comment request.
At the APEC CEO summit in San Francisco, Fulcher announced even greater news: Ringmd Had a partner With Pasaca Capital based in California, a progressive production facility in South Carolina is investing within the production of medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The system would “generate an estimated investment value of 500 million US dollars,” he said, adding that “this ambitious number only exceeds statistics.”
The project stays a mystery. Neither is mentioned on the Ringmd or Pasaca web sites, nor are there other public announcements for the project. Pasaca and Ringmd didn’t answer a comment request. Alex Parle, a manager within the national center for APEC, which organized the CEO event, said: “Apart from the provision of the stage for the announcement, we have no other connection to the project.”
In December 2024, Harvey, whose investment began again the bankrupt Ringmd within the United States, began the corporate and claimed in a letter submitted to the court, fulcher owed greater than $ 500,000 for an advance for money, unpaid consulting fees and interest. Ringmd still has to react to the lawsuit. Harvey rejected an announcement. (On his LinkedIn, Fulcher still lists himself to the present co -founder of Ringmd, but doesn’t indicate his role. According to Delaware Business registrations, Fulcher was director and president of Ringmd.)
Now, three months later, Fulcher is Ascendant in Dogy, where his dream of being sorted by Muschus, seems to have come true. His work within the Veterans Affairs Department Has won early awards from those that interacted with him who, based on you, remember “positive conversations” report. But shortly after the arrival of Doge the department announced It took 1,000 staff.
In the Pentagon, Fulcher’s work may have way more effects if defense officers consider cuts that might affect as much as 50,000.
More from Forbes
