Morgan Ortagus Biography

Morgan was born Morgan Deann Ortagus, on July 10, 1982, in Auburndale, Florida. She grew up in Polk County, Florida. Her father, Ronald E Ortagus, is the owner of two Florida franchise outlets of 'Service Master,' a cleanup and restoration company. Morgan’s mother, Denise C Ortagus, worked as an office manager.

In 2005, Morgan graduated with a BS in political science from 'Florida Southern College.' She holds two master’s degrees from 'Johns Hopkins University': an MBA and an MA in government. She completed her dual degrees in May 2013.

Following high school, Morgan participated in several beauty pageants to win college scholarships. She is known to have participated in the 'Miss Orange Blossom,' the 'Miss Florida Citrus,’ the 'Miss Auburndale,' and the 'Miss Teen Auburndale’ pageants. However, Morgan is known as a former 'Miss Florida Beauty.' She received a scholarship worth $3,000 for the pageant. Morgan had worked as a waitress when she was a college student.

At the age of 13, Morgan’s pageant mentor, Malina Price-Bos of Auburndale, was murdered by a drunk driver. The incident had a profound impact on her and led her to volunteer organizations such as 'MADD' ('Mothers Against Drunk Driving').

Morgan’s first job was to campaign for Adam Putnam, who was a candidate of the 2004 congressional re-election in Florida. Later, she also worked with the Bush Cheney campaign in the district.

In 2006, Morgan assisted former US government official and political commentator KT McFarland as her press secretary. McFarland was contesting as a senatorial candidate at that time. Following this, Morgan began serving the government as a public affairs officer at the 'US Agency for International Development.' During her tenure, in 2007, she spent a few months in Baghdad, Iraq, where she consistently worked for several years with Samantha Vinograd. Morgan and Samantha later co-founded 'GO (Global Opportunity) Advisors.' They combined their experiences of working with the 'White House’ and the ‘Treasury Department' to establish their new venture. They felt the requirement for a new model to help a few top senior executives and decision makers in scaling their businesses globally.

From 2008 to 2010, Morgan served at the 'US Treasury,' as an intelligence analyst in the 'Office of Intelligence and Analysis.' Her role was to publicly designate individual terrorists on the 'United Nations 1267' list. In 2010, she was stationed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the 'Deputy United States Treasury Attaché' to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Working together with the Saudi Arabian government, Morgan focused on blocking the unlawful financial transactions to and from Saudi Arabia. She became an essential link between the 'US Treasury' and the banking sector of Saudi Arabia.

Morgan was a global relationship manager at 'Standard Chartered Bank.' She was part of the public sector team that covered their clientele in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Morgan is currently serving as a 'United States Navy Reserve' officer.

In early 2016, Morgan joined 'Ernst & Young,' one of the “Big Four” multinational professional services firms, as its global executive director. She later launched the 'Geostrategic Business Group,' a geopolitical initiative of ‘Ernst & Young’ that strives toward helping various organizations and institutions in understanding and navigating the geopolitical landscape. Morgan now serves as the group’s external director and senior advisor.

Morgan has appeared as a guest host on 'Fox News' and 'Fox Business.' Some of her ‘Fox’ shows are 'Outnumbered,' 'Fox and Friends First,' 'Bulls & Bears,' 'The Greg Gutfeld Show,' 'Fox News Specialists,' 'Fox and Friends,' 'Cashin' In,' 'Making Money With Charles Payne,' 'Mornings with Maria Bartiromo,' 'Cavuto on Business,' and 'Lou Dobbs Tonight.' She has also served as 'Fox News's political and financial advisor. Morgan serves as a co-chairperson of 'Maverick PAC,' a body that provides a platform to the next generation of American leaders in business and politics.

Morgan is a 'Johns Hopkins University' leadership fellow and a member of several bodies, such as the 'Center for a New American Security’ (CNAS) council and their ‘Future of Sanctions Task Force.’ She is part of the 'Institute for the Study of War’s ‘Advancement Committee' and the ‘International Republican Institute’s (IRI) ‘Women’s Democracy Network Advisory Council.’ She is one of the board members of the 'Elizabeth Dole Foundation' and the 'Friends of the American University of Afghanistan.' Additionally, Morgan joined 'Concordia,' a non-profit, non-partisan organization that facilitates meaningful partnerships for positive social impact. As 'Concordia’s advisor, she works in developing the organization’s diplomacy and national security programs and contributes to its strategic direction.

Morgan has been married twice. She first married Joshua Dobbs, a ‘US Marine’ officer. They first met in Polk County, Florida, and began dating each other shortly after. Not much is known about their wedding. They had no children and later divorced.

Morgan is now married to Jonathan Ross Weinberger, the vice president of innovation at the ‘Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.’ They got married in May 2013. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg led the wedding in her chambers at the ‘Supreme Court’ in Washington, D.C. Later that evening, Morgan and Jonathan had a Jewish wedding at the 'Four Seasons Hotel.' This time, the marriage was led by Rabbi Kenneth B Block. Her husband affectionately calls her “Bella.”

While in college, Morgan thought that she was destined to be a professional opera singer.

She is now a patron at the 'Met Opera’ and the ‘Kennedy Center' and has recently started taking vocal lessons.