At the University of Michigan, Ernest Jacquet earned a bachelor's degree in marine architecture on an NROTC scholarship and a master's degree in computer science with Honors. Ernest Jacquet was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. During his term of service, he oversaw a U.S Navy dive team in the Western Pacific. Subsequently, Ernest Jacquet took a year off to follow in the wake of his hero Jacques Cousteau by sailing his 41 foot sailboat to the mainland United States from Hawaii, using only a sextant for navigation.
Ernest Jacquet went on to work in the North Sea offshore Aberdeen Scotland overseeing Deep Sea Diving for a major oil company. His experience there lead to the development and building and patenting of the Mobile Diving Unit which brought safety to North Sea Divers. In 1980, the MDU was highlighted by Jacques Cousteau in National Geographic Magazine as the "State of the Art" solution for safe deep sea diving.
In 1975, Ernest Jacquet began his work in finance as the youngest Board Director in Trafalgar House Investments, PLC. He returned to the USA in 1983, to get his MBA from Stanford University. Throughout the following decades, he worked with Morgan Stanley & Co., Bain Capital, and Summit Partners. In 1998, he co-founded a private equity fund known as Parthenon Capital which currently manages over $4 billion. In 2012, he retired from Parthenon Capital and currently manages his family office Freedom Capital Partners from Palm Beach Florida. Mr. Jacquet also serves as the chairman of International Package Shipping and American Clean Energy Partners.