A billionaire hedge fund boss is positioning himself to become Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary.
Scott Bessent, who previously served as Trump’s economic adviser, is currently researching potential candidates for a deputy position. The Financial Times reported.
The news comes a day after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, often called the most powerful banker in America, ruled himself out for the job.
Although Bessent, who has courted controversy for his financial backing of a conservative publisher, has not confirmed his interest in joining Trump’s Cabinet, he hinted at his willingness on Wednesday.
“I’m going to do whatever President Trump asks me to do,” he told CNBC when asked if he would work in the administration.
Bessent, founder of Key Square Capital Management, has been a top fundraiser for Trump during his recent campaign for a second term.
Billionaire Scott Bessent is positioning himself as the next Treasury secretary, reports suggest
Sources told the Financial Times that Bessent could be “pulling the curtain prematurely” as it is unclear whether he has actually been offered the Treasury Secretary job.
Another source told the publication that Bessent was only looking for candidates for deputy Treasury secretary because Trump’s team had asked him to.
“Some people may have mistaken them for direct interviews, but they weren’t,” the source said.
The Trump campaign has not yet commented on candidates for top jobs in the new administration.
Bessent, praised by Trump as “one of Wall Street’s top analysts,” has publicly supported several of the president-elect’s economic policies, including imposing higher tariffs on imports.
The hedge fund boss previously told the Financial Times that Trump’s tariff plans were a “maximalist” threat that could be negotiated with trading partners.
“This is an escalation to de-escalate,” he told the publication.
He also told CNBC that he would like to see tariffs “gradually escalated” to allow any inflationary side effects to emerge over time and be offset by other policies such as deregulation.
Bessent, who made his fortune alongside George Soros betting against the Japanese yen, would have significant influence over the country’s economy if confirmed as Treasury Secretary.
The role involves stabilizing the U.S. economy and government bond market while promoting the president’s economic policies.
Bessent has sparked controversy in conservative circles for his role supporting a right-wing book publisher, All Seasons.
A lawsuit by conservative writer Lee Smith alleged that All Seasons, under Bessent, misled him by concealing his ties to Soros.
Smith’s book deal fell through, leading to accusations that Bessent intended to censor conservative voices by paying for projects and then shelving them. Bessent denied this and dismissed Smith’s claims as an “explosion”.
Earlier this year, Bessent said a stock market rally was linked to Trump’s victory in the polls over Joe Biden.
Bessent previously served as an economic adviser to Donald Trump.
Another candidate for Treasury Secretary is wealthy investor Howard Lutnick, who raised $75 million for Trump and co-leads his transition effort.
Lutnick was one of the speakers at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and also spoke with Musk about cleaning up the government’s financial efficiency.
“We’re going to eliminate waste from our $6.5 trillion budget and then we’re going to balance the budget…we have offices that we don’t use, we have procurement waste on a large scale, and I mean large scale.” Lutnick said.