Scott Bessent
Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent is an American businessman and government official serving since 2025 as the 79th United States secretary of the treasury. Bessent was a partner at Soros Fund Management and founded Key Square Group, a global macro investment firm. He is the first openly gay person to lead the U.S. Treasury Department, and the second openly gay U.S. Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary.
Bessent graduated from Yale University in 1984 with a B.A. in political science. After holding a series of financial positions, he was hired by Soros Fund Management in 1991, eventually becoming the head of its London office. While serving in the role in September 1992, he was a leading member of the SFM group, which profited by $1 billion on Black Wednesday, the British pound sterling crisis. In 2013, he made SFM another $1.2 billion by betting against the Japanese yen. After leaving the Soros Fund in 2015, Bessent established Key Square Group, a hedge fund.
Bessent served as an economic advisor, fundraiser, and major donor for the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign. On November 22, 2024, President-elect Trump announced his nomination of Bessent for U.S. Treasury Secretary in the second Trump administration. Bessent was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 27, 2025, by a 68–29 vote, and sworn in as the 79th U.S. Treasury Secretary on January 28, 2025. Bessent has reportedly physically threatened other senior members of the Trump admistration on multiple occasions.
Early life
Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent was born on August 21, 1962, in Conway, South Carolina, to Barbara and Homer Gaston Bessent Jr.. The Bessent family is of French Huguenot and Scottish descent, and had a Baptist affiliation at times in its history. Scott's father, a man of many pursuits, including hunting and fishing, founded and owned one of the Grand Strand's early real estate companies. His mother, a local businesswoman, assumed responsibility for that business when Homer was ill for a period in the 1960s, "a most unusual feat for era". Scott's mother married five times, twice to Bessent’s father, who at one point went bankrupt and has been called "the great love of her life". John Jenrette, a disgraced member of the United States House of Representatives, was Scott Bessent's uncle.Bessent had a summer job as a busboy at age 9. In 1980, he graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School in Little River, South Carolina. He considered attending the United States Naval Academy but decided not to as he was unwilling to lie about his sexual orientation.
Bessent graduated from Yale College in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in political science. He was on the board of the Yale Daily News, acted as president of the Wolf's Head Society, and was the class treasurer. He also chaired the 1984 Yale Alumni Fund and was an assistant to the director of athletics. As an undergraduate, Bessent interned with Jim Rogers, a co-founder of the Quantum Fund, after meeting him at a Yale career center event.
Investing career
Early and SFM work
After college, Bessent worked at Brown Brothers Harriman, at the Riyadh-based company Olayan Group, and then at the hedge fund Kynikos Associates, under Jim Chanos. In Business Insider, Julia La Roche connected Bessent's work with Chanos to his eventual opportunity at Soros Fund Management, noting that George Soros was a major Chanos client. In the Yale Daily News, Asher Boiskin suggested Soros himself recruited Bessent. In 1992, Bessent was a leading member of the SFM team whose bet on the Black Wednesday collapse of the British Pound sterling earned the firm over $1 billion. Some sources, such as Forbes, call Bessent a "protégé" of Soros.After resigning from SFM in 2000, Bessent founded a $1 billion hedge fund, Bessent Capital. The fund closed in 2005. He has said he learned that he should not change his style or the firm's approach because of investor preferences. He was also a senior investment adviser to fund-of-funds Protégé Partners. Bessent returned to SFM as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015. His bet against the Japanese yen in 2013 yielded more than $1.2 billion in profit in three months.
From 2006 to 2011, Bessent was an adjunct professor of economic history at Yale, teaching three courses.
Key Square Group founding
Bessent left SFM in 2015 to launch Key Square Group, a hedge fund named after a spot on the chessboard, with Michael Germino, who had been the global head of capital markets at SFM. It received a $2 billion anchor investment from George Soros. Key Square uses geopolitics and economics to make macro investments. Its main fund returned 13% in 2016 but declined or broke even every year from 2017 to 2021 before making major gains in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The inconsistent track record scared away clients. Assets under management shrank from $5.1 billion in 2017 to $577 million in 2023 and the number of institutional investors declined from 180 to 20 over the same period. It earned a "double digits" percentage profit in 2024 betting that U.S. stocks would rise after Trump won the election.In 2018, as part of a prearranged deal, the firm returned Soros's investment as it took in other assets. Its investors include Australia's sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund. Bessent announced that he would sever ties with the group after assuming the role of treasury secretary.
Early involvement in politics
In 2000, Bessent hosted a fundraiser for Al Gore at his home in East Hampton, New York. Also in 2000, he donated $1,000 to John McCain's presidential campaign. In 2007, he donated $2,300 to Barack Obama's campaign, and in 2013, he donated $25,000 to Hillary Clinton's campaign. At the time, he was said to be a Democrat who supported liberal causes.After Trump was elected president in 2016, Bessent donated $1 million to Trump's 2017 presidential inaugural committee. In 2023 and 2024, he donated more than $1 million to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. In February 2024, Bessent hosted a fundraiser in Greenville, South Carolina, that raised nearly $7 million for Trump's campaign. In April, he hosted a Palm Beach, Florida, fundraiser that raised $50 million for the campaign. In July, Bessent was a key economic adviser to Trump.
Secretary of the Treasury (2025–present)
Nomination and confirmation
On November 22, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Bessent to serve as the United States secretary of the treasury in his second administration. On January 16, 2025, Bessent appeared before the United States Senate Committee on Finance. At his confirmation hearing, Bessent advocated for tax cut extensions and tougher economic policies on China and Russia. File:Vice President JD Vance with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, April 2025.jpg|thumb|Bessent with Vice President JD Vance and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, April 2, 2025|230x230pxOn January 21, 2025, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance advanced Bessent's nomination to the Senate floor by a 16–11 vote. On January 27, 2025, the U.S. Senate voted 68–29 to confirm Bessent's nomination. The same day, a man with multiple Molotov cocktails and a knife who intended to murder Bessent was arrested at the United States Capitol.
Tenure
On January 28, 2025, Bessent was sworn in as the 79th secretary of the treasury by U.S. Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. Bessent became the first openly gay person to lead the U.S. Treasury Department and the second openly gay U.S. Senate-confirmed Cabinet secretary.On January 31, 2025, Bessent granted the Department of Government Efficiency team access to the Treasury Department's payment system. On February 3, 2025, he was named the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; he immediately ordered the agency to halt all work.
In February 2025, Bessent and acting United States secretary of commerce Jeremy Pelter were tasked with implementing a United States sovereign wealth fund. In April, Trump initially named Gary Shapley as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, but Shapley was soon replaced by Michael Faulkender, Bessent's preferred pick, after Bessent lobbied Trump. This led to a dispute between Bessent and Elon Musk, reportedly causing a shouting match.File:Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement Signing.jpg|thumb|Bessent and Ukrainian first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko signing the mineral resources agreement, April 30, 2025
On August 8, The New York Times reported that Trump was removing Billy Long as commissioner of internal revenue in preparation for an ambassadorship nomination. Bessent was named as Long's acting successor. Also in August, the Office of Government Ethics notified Senate Committee on Finance chair Mike Crapo that Bessent "has failed to timely comply with certain terms of the ethics agreement he signed".
In September 2025, Bessent reportedly clashed with Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte and threatened to punch him.
On October 15, 2025, Bessent said the U.S. would work to create a strategic mineral reserve, potentially with JPMorgan Chase. He added that the U.S. would set price floors across multiple industries, and potentially take equity stakes in other rare-earth companies to reduce reliance on China, as the U.S. Department of War did in July 2025 with MP Materials.
On November 28, after the 2025 Washington, D.C., National Guard shooting, Bessent announced that the Treasury Department would move to reclassify certain tax credits as federal public benefits so as to "cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for U.S. citizens". Affected tax credits include the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the earned income tax credit, among others.
In January 2026, Bessent engaged in a public spat with California Governor Gavin Newsom after Newsom criticized Trump at the 56th World Economic Forum. At Davos, Newsom brandished a pair of kneepads with Trump's signature on them to criticize world leaders' perceived weakness in responding to Trump. In response, Bessent said that Newsom has "a brain the size of a walnut" and that "if you brought the kneepads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros." Newsom later attacked Bessent in response, while Bessent also called Newsom "Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken".
On January 26, 2026, Bessent announced that the Treasury would terminate 31 government contracts with Booz Allen Hamilton, due in part to the actions of Charles E. Littlejohn.
Foreign policy
On September 24, 2025, Bessent announced a planned $20 billion economic lifeline to Argentina to purchase government bonds and help stabilize the nation's economy. The purchase was finalized on October 9. On October 15, Bessent said he was negotiating deals for the private sector to give Argentina another $20 billion, adding that several banks and sovereign wealth funds had expressed interest. On January 9, 2026, Bessent said that Argentina had fully repaid its currency draw, estimated by local newspapers at $2.5 billion of the potential $20 billion. He added that since the swap, the Exchange Stabilization Fund now holds no Argentine pesos.On October 22, 2025, the U.S. imposed sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine|sanctions] on Russian energy companies Rosneft and Lukoil over continued fighting in Ukraine. Bessent wrote in a statement: "Given President Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia's two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin's war machine. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions."
In November 2025, Bessent voiced his support for the sale of F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
Political views
Domestic
Bessent has characterized the present U.S. economy as a "barbell economy", explaining that while it has powerful financial and raw material sectors, it also possesses a weakened working class. He proposed a three-point economic plan for Trump modeled on Abenomics. Bessent opposes raising the federal minimum wage in the United States, calling it "more of a statewide and regional issue". He supports lowering interest rates, continuing Social Security, reducing government intervention in the economy, easing Supplementary Leverage Ratio regulations on banks, and expanding nuclear power. He also supported the One [Big Beautiful Bill Act], praising the creation of Trump Accounts.Bessent supports a strong dollar policy, differing from Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who have spoken in favor of a weak dollar policy. He has been labeled a gold bug, calling gold a historical "store of value". Bessent is pro-crypto and supports federal regulations on stablecoins, as well as the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. After the penny was phased out due to its negative seigniorage, he expressed support for changing the composition of the nickel to cheaper materials to get production costs below 5 cents.
Bessent opposes the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency. He supports establishing a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, and has proposed including government-sponsored enterprises in the fund. He supports raising FDIC insurance limits on bank accounts; as of 2025 they are set at $250,000. He supports abolition of the Filibuster in [the United States Senate|U.S. Senate filibuster].
Bessent proposed seeking an early confirmation of a replacement for Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May 2026, as a way to reduce Powell's influence, prompting some criticism. Bessent later "walked back" the idea.
Foreign
In 2022, Bessent praised Trump and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe for containing China. He called China "ever more antagonistic". Bessent has supported tariffs in the second Trump administration. In a November 2024 Fox News op-ed, he wrote that the "U.S. opened its markets to the world, but China's resulting economic growth has only cemented the hold of a despotic regime" and argued tariffs "are a means to finally stand up for Americans". In March 2025, amid Trump's threats to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Bessent defended the tariffs, saying, "access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream." In April 2025, after Trump announced Liberation Day tariffs, Bessent warned countries against retaliating, promising escalation. On April 9, Trump paused many of the tariffs; Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were credited with convincing Trump to do so. Bessent has advocated pressuring U.S. trading partners to restrict their economic relationships with China.In August 2025, Bessent accused India of profiting from reselling Russian oil during Russia's war against Ukraine and said, "This is what I would call the Indian arbitrage—buying cheap Russian oil, reselling it as product. They've made $16 billion in excess profits—some of the richest families in India."
In September 2025, Bessent voiced support for more secondary sanctions on Russia to "collapse" the Russian economy, saying the Trump administration is "prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow us". After an October meeting between two leaders at the APEC Summit in South Korea, Bessent said that China's decision to restrict rare earth exports might have been a strategic miscalculation, as it encouraged other countries to reduce reliance on Chinese supplies and develop alternative sources. He suggested that the policy could lessen China's leverage within two years as global supply chains diversify.
In January 2026, amid strained Canadian-U.S. relations, Bessent spoke in support of Alberta separatism, backing a potential 2026 independence referendum.
Wealth
According to his financial assets disclosure by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Bessent's net worth was at least $521 million as of December 28, 2024; his actual net worth is speculated to be around $600 million. At that time, he owned more than $50 million in each of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, and the Invesco QQQ, as well as real estate in the Bahamas worth $5 million to $25 million and a home in Cashiers, North Carolina, worth $5 million to $25 million. In 2025, he owned farmland worth up to $25 million in North Dakota that provides him a rental income of up to $1 million per year. Bessent said he divested his North Dakota farmland in December 2025 as part of his ethics agreement as secretary of the treasury.Personal life
Bessent lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. He previously lived in Greenwich, Connecticut. He is a member of the Huguenot Church, a religious association whose expansion his ancestors supported in 1680. He married John Freeman, a former New York City prosecutor, in 2011. They have two children, born through surrogacy.Bessent has had close friendships with King Charles III and Robert Trump. Robert's ex-wife, Blaine Trump, is the godmother of Bessent's daughter.