Scott Bessent, a noted investor, hedge fund manager, and frequent speaker on economic and investment panels, has been confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 68-29 to serve as President Donald J. Trump’s next Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
“Past successful Treasury Secretaries have understood business and financial markets, as well as foreign policy, national security, budgets and regulation,” said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo on the Senate floor. “Mr. Bessent’s impressive background positions him for similar success. He has worked for the last three decades as one of the sharpest minds in the global financial industry. He has decades of academic, professional and leadership experience relevant to these positions.”
A Yale graduate and former Chief Investment Officer for Soros Fund Management, the hedge fund founded by George Soros in 1970, Bessent serves as CEO and Chief Investment Officer for Key Square Capital Management, a New York-based investment partnership that he founded in 2015.
From 1991-2000, Bessent was Managing Partner of for Soros Fund Management’s London office, including the period of the British Pound devaluation. He was previously associated with Brown Brothers Harriman, The Olayan Group, Kynikos Associates, and Protégé Partners.
From 2006-2010, Bessent was an Adjunct Professor at Yale University, where he taught economic history. He is profiled in the book on macro investors, Inside the House of Money, and is featured in Sebastian Mallaby’s history of hedge funds, More Money Than God.
In 2017, Bessent published two articles in The International Economy magazine: one on the suppressing effects of low real interest rates on volatility, and one discussing whether other countries are at risk for “Japan Disease.” This summer he wrote a piece refuting Larry Summers’s assertion that central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, are unprepared for the next economic downturn.
“We congratulate Scott Bessent on his confirmation as the next Secretary of the Treasury and look forward to working with him to strengthen our economy and our financial system,” said the American Bankers Association (ABA) in a statement of their website. “This administration has a great opportunity to increase growth and ensure that our economy continues to lead the world, and America’s banks stand ready to do their part. We will continue to advocate for common-sense policies that promote a rational regulatory framework that allows banks of all sizes to fully support the customers and communities they serve.”
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s mission is to maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable economic growth and stability at home and abroad, strengthen national security by combating threats and protecting the integrity of the financial system, and manage the U.S. government’s finances and resources.
Bessent replaces Acting Secretary of the Treasury David Lebryk, who just last week, replaced Janet Yellen, the 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury, an appointee of President Joe Biden. Yellen was the only woman in American history to lead the U.S Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (under President Bill Clinton from 1997-1999).
“MBA appreciates the swift confirmation process and bipartisan support that Scott Bessent received to be the next Treasury Secretary,” said Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB. “We congratulate him on his confirmation, and our members stand ready to work with him and his staff on commonsense policies that grow the economy and strengthen our nation’s single-family and commercial and multifamily real estate markets. We recognize that the Treasury has several key issues to address early on, including the tax policy and reconciliation debate. MBA will work with Treasury and Congress to help pass legislation that extends key, expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, particularly those that impact consumers and support continued investment in housing and communities.”
