President-elect Donald Trump has named hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as the next US Treasury Secretary, ending weeks of speculation over the key Cabinet appointment.

Bessent, an avid Trump supporter and donor, is the founder, CEO and chief investment officer of investment firm Key Square Group. He also served as an economic advisor to Trump’s presidential campaign and was said to be one of the president-elect’s most successful fundraisers. Bloomberg Business Week.

“I am very pleased to nominate Scott Bessent as the 79th United States Secretary of the Treasury,” Trump said in an emailed statement to Newsweek on Friday evening. “Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream.”

“Scott has long been a strong supporter of the America First Agenda,” he added. “As a lifelong champion of Main Street America and American industry, Scott will support my policies that will boost American competitiveness and end unfair trade imbalances, and work to create an economy that puts growth at the forefront, especially through our coming global energy dominance. “

In an op-ed published by Fox News last week, Bessent praised Trump’s plan to impose blanket tariffs on all U.S. imports, a policy proposal that has drawn heavy criticism, as a valuable “negotiating tool with our trading partners.”

However, Reuters reported earlier on Friday that Bessent’s “years of inconsistent performance” as a money manager had led to “a nearly 90 percent decline in his hedge fund’s assets,” even though he has capitalized on his relationship with Trump and placed recent bets on profits for the US dollar and the stock market had delivered “double-digit percentage gains” so far in 2024.

Who is Scott Bessent?

Bessent, 62, was born in Conway, South Carolina and currently owns a home in the state’s most populous city, Charleston. He graduated from Yale University and taught there as a professor of economic history from 2006 to 2011.

According to WashingtonPost White House economics reporter Jeff Stein Bessent is “a longtime friend of King Charles III and Queen Camilla” and “close friends with Princess Firyal of Jordan and socialite Blaine Trump,” the president-elect’s former sister-in-law.

Although Bessent is strongly supported by Trump and a selection of his allies, some details of this biography may be viewed less favorably by other supporters of the newly elected president.

From 2011 to 2015, Bessent served as Chief Investment Officer for Jewish investor and philanthropist George Soros — a Democratic megadonor who is often a favorite target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories.

Bessent, who has been described as ‘Soros’ protégé’, first worked for Soros Fund Management in the 1990s and became head of the firm’s UK office before setting up his own firm in 2000.

Trump’s candidate is also married and has two children with former New York prosecutor John Freeman. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would become the first openly gay person to be officially confirmed to the Trump Cabinet.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who is also openly gay, briefly served as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence in 2020 but was never confirmed by the Senate. Current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay person to officially serve as Cabinet secretary.

Billionaire Elon Musk, a more recent Trump ally and donor, signed Bessent last week in a after to