Profile of Scott Bessent, Trump’s Pick for Treasury Secretary, Turns Out to Be Soros Vice President

Jakarta –

The man who founded the hedge fund Key Square Group, Scott Bessent, was nominated by the President-elect of the United States (US) Donald Trump as the Secretary of the US Treasury. Bessent will help Trump address Uncle Sam’s economic, fiscal and tax issues.

Reporting from Forbes, Saturday (23/11/2024), Bassent was the vice president of George Soros, conglomerate and US investor. Soros is a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate and Trump rival Kamala Harris.

The Soros family is known as a major donor to the Democrats and has spent tens of millions of dollars on campaign needs. Bessent began working for Soros in 1991 at Soros Fund Management.

After leaving in 2000, Bessent returned to Soros in 2011 and served as Soros’ chief investment officer. In 2015, Bessent decided to stop and start his own way in Main Square with an investment of US$ 2 billion.

The company reportedly managed total assets of around US$600 million as of December 2023. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bessent had not spoken to his former boss, Soros, for years.

Bessent is said to be one of the smart investors, who is one step ahead of the market. According to Michael Oliver Weinberg, a professor at Columbia Business School and a Bessent investment advisor, these traits are similar to those of George Soros.

“Scott is one of the smartest and smartest investors I’ve ever worked with. Just like George Soros, he’s also usually one step ahead of the market,” said Weinberg, quoted by Reuters.

Bessent is from South Carolina and graduated from Yale University in 1984. Bessent was one of Trump’s Treasury Secretary candidates among many names such as private equity billionaire Marc Rowan, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, and Kevin Warsh, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Bessent was Trump’s top adviser on economic policy during the campaign and gave Trump about $3 million. Bessent assesses that Trump is very educated in economic policy, compared to Harris, who he says is not economically literate.

He will replace former US Treasury Secretary in the Joe Biden administration, Janet Yellen. Before he was close to Trump, AP News said Bessent was a supporter and donor to the Democratic Party in the early 2000s, most notably in AI Gore’s bid for president.

(ly/hns)