Secretary of the Treasury Department is one of the most powerful Cabinet positions. Here are the people who are rumored to be President-elect Donald Trump’s top options for the role.
Since the election, Trump has been picking nominees for his Cabinet. Some of his choices have been conventional — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to lead the State Department — while others have been more controversial, like Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
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Former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) are the top contenders for the Treasury spot as of Wednesday.
Prediction markets are in upheaval over who could be chosen, with no clear front-runner as there has been with other Trump Cabinet picks. Polymarket, an online platform for wagers on elections and other political drama, puts the odds of Warsh being chosen at 42%, Rowan at 27%, Bessent at 21%, and Hagerty at 11%. But, given Trump’s past selections, it is always possible he could choose a wildcard.
Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of financial services giant Cantor Fitzgerald, was a top contender to take over from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, but Trump announced this week that he would join the administration as Commerce secretary.
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Kevin Warsh
Warsh, 54, has been a prominent name in the world of finance and economics for quite some time and is reportedly meeting with Trump on Wednesday to interview for the job.
After graduating from Stanford, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1995. He also did coursework in market economics and debt capital markets at Harvard Business School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After spending several years working in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, Warsh joined President George W. Bush’s administration, serving as special assistant to the president for economic policy and as executive secretary at the National Economic Council.
Bush nominated him to the Fed board in 2006 and he served in the influential role under both Bush and former President Barack Obama, leaving the Fed in 2011. He was at the central bank during the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.
After leaving the central bank, Warsh worked as a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He was also part of a forum of business leaders who advised the incoming Trump administration after Trump won his first term in 2016.
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Marc Rowan
Rowan, 62, is the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management, which he started in 1990 with Josh Harris and Leon Black.
Rowan, like Trump, attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a master of business administration degree in finance from the Wharton School, where he graduated first in his class.
He later worked in mergers and acquisitions at investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert until it went bankrupt in 1990. Rowan then went on to found Apollo, which was highly successful and gained the image as being one of Wall Street’s “ruthless risk-takers,” according to Bloomberg, an image he tried to shed after taking over. Rowan is known to be methodical in his business dealings, with some referring to him as “The Professor.”
Rowan has remained closely involved with the University of Pennsylvania and Wharton. Having donated more than $50 million to Wharton over the years, Rowan was a part of the donor backlash against Penn in the fallout of the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. Penn President Liz Magil resigned amid the controversy.
Warsh is also reportedly set to interview with Trump on Wednesday. His contention for the role only came in recent days.
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Scott Bessent
Bessent, 62, was presumed to be the front-runner for Trump’s Treasury pick until just recently. Bessent is a well-known hedge fund manager who founded the New York-based investment firm Key Square Group.
After growing up in South Carolina, Bessent attended Yale College, graduating in 1984. He joined Soros Fund Management in the 1980s and worked his way up, gaining an esteemed reputation at firm.
Bessent left the firm, where he departed as chief investment officer, in 2015 and founded Key Square Group.
Bessent has donated money to candidates of both major parties over the years, including hosting a fundraiser for then-presidential contender Al Gore in 2000. But Bessent has grown increasingly close to Trump in recent years and donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee after the president-elect’s first win in 2016.
In his advisory role to Trump, Bessent has urged the president-elect to embrace a “3-3-3” policy, which would mean pushing for 3% gross domestic product growth, cutting the deficit to 3% of GDP by 2028, and increasing energy production by the equivalent of 3 million barrels of oil per day.
On the campaign trail, Trump lavished praise on Bessent and referred to him as “one of the top analysts on Wall Street.”
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Bill Hagerty
Hagerty, 65, is also reportedly gunning for the Treasury role. He has served as a senator from Tennessee since 2021. He was also Trump’s ambassador to Japan from 2017 until he resigned in 2019 to launch his Senate bid.
A Tennessee native, Hagerty attended undergrad at Vanderbilt University and later attended law school there, graduating in 1984. Hagerty started his career at global management consultancy Boston Consulting Group, often working overseas.
Hagerty served as an economic adviser to President George H.W. Bush and founded the now-defunct private equity firm Hagerty Peterson & Company in 1997. He was a national finance chairman for Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) unsuccessful 2008 presidential run.
Hagerty spent a few years serving in the cabinet of Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. After Trump won in 2016, Hagerty played a key role in the transition process, serving the president-elect as director of presidential appointments, where he oversaw Trump’s initial cabinet appointments and was considered for the role of top U.S. trade negotiator.
After leaving his role as ambassador to Japan, Hagerty won his seat in the Senate with more than 62% of the vote, outperforming Trump in the red state. Hagerty traveled on Trump’s jet with him on Tuesday.
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The pick for treasury secretary is the most powerful remaining Cabinet selection Trump has to make.
It is unclear when he intends to announce the decision. Whoever steps into the role will inherit an economy with declining, though still sticky, inflation. Trump has also vowed to impose historic tariffs, which would involve close coordination with the Treasury Department.
