Trump Picks Hedge Fund Manager Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary, Reports Say

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department, according to various media reports late Friday.

The reports, citing people familiar with the matter, indicate an end to a period where several high-profile names were discussed as possible replacements for Janet Yellen, who was appointed by President Biden after leading the Federal Reserve.

As Treasury Secretary, Bessent would take charge of the government’s finances, managing the $36 trillion national debt, as well as oversee the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a banking regulator.

Bessent is the founder of Key Square Group, a money-management firm. “The failure of Bidenomics is clear,” he wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. “But Mr. Trump has turned around the economy before, and he is ready to do so again.”

Among the other names believed to be considered by Trump were Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, and Marc Rowan, the CEO of private equity giant Apollo Global Management.

Trump’s second cabinet continues to take shape. Among the economic positions remaining: chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Trump is also reportedly considering several candidates to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve when his term ends in 2026.