President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick—a CEO known for his sharp rise to the top of Wall Street, as well as his resilience after the 9/11 attacks destroyed his company—as Commerce Secretary.
In the new role, Lutnick, who has led Trump’s transition team, will lead the incoming administration’s direction on tariffs and trade and maintain direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Trump announced in a message. Social Truth on tuesday
Lutnick, a longtime New York power player, became chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street investment banking and financial services firm, in the early 1990s when he was just 29 years old.
During Trump’s 2024 campaign, Lutnick has gave more than a million dollars He has become a top economic adviser to Trump’s super PAC and hosted a $15 million fundraiser at his Hamptons home this summer.
Lutnick was one of the leading voices in Trump’s camp advocating higher tariffs, aimed at lowering corporate taxes in the states and insulating US businesses from foreign competition.
For months, many suspected Trump would tap Lutnick for Treasury Secretary, a role that remains unfilled.
A representative for Lutnick did not immediately respond of luck request for comments.
Who is Howard Lutnick?
Lutnick, 63, quickly climbed the business ladder, but he didn’t have an easy start: By the time he was 18, both of his parents died, leaving him and his two siblings to fend for themselves.
The New York native joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a bond trader shortly after college, and immediately developed a close relationship with the firm’s founder, Bernard Cantor.
Eight years after joining, Lutnick was named president and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald’s firm, allegedly. “He elbowed his way up” As Cantor was on his deathbed– and five years later, he became president.
“There is no sugarcoating the fact that before and after 9/11 Mr. Lutnick was not well liked in the industry,” Suzanne Craig. wrote in the section New York Times in 2011 “A ruthless competitor, even by Wall Street standards, he’s made more than a few enemies over the years. In 1996, as Mr. Cantor, his mentor, was dying, Mr. Lutnick fought with Cantor’s wife, Iris, for control of Cantor Fitzgerald. He later banned him from the funeral.’
Cantor Fitzgerald was brutalized by the September 11 attacks. The company was based on the 101st and 105th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center; the hijacked flight hit floors 93 through 99, leaving those on the Cantor floors with no way to escape.
Every employee in the office – 658 employees – died that morning, almost 70% of the company’s employees. Lutnick was dropping her son off at daycare that morning and was not at the office, but her younger brother Gary, also a Cantor employee, was killed. Represented by Cantor staff almost 1 in 4 among the victims killed in New York that day.
Within a week, Lutnick returned to the trading desk and, amid widespread criticism, announced that the company would cut pay for the company’s slain workers. He later promised 25% of the company’s profits over the next decade to his relatives, along with ongoing health insurance. He too He gave them $90 million from his personal savings.
Today, Lutnick is one of Wall Street’s top executives, at age 41 at the helm of Cantor Fitzgerald. During his tenure, Lutnick has overseen A $1.3 billion merger of BGC partnersfinancial services company, eSpeed, with an electronic bond trading platform as well Rumble takena video platform, public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). At the beginning of the year, through the BCG Group – of which Lutnick is also the CEO – he presented a future exchange called FMX, which is valid Morgan StanleyCiti and Goldman Sachs among its shareholders. Meanwhile, his economic participation in the company is around 60%, compared to 25% two decades ago.
In recent months, Lutnick has balanced his CEO duties with leadership of the Trump campaign by working at Cantor from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and then from 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Trump time. The Wall Street Journal notify.
Trump expects Lutnick to take the reins on tariffs
One of Trump’s main talking points during his campaign has been his promise to raise tariffs. As Commerce Secretary, Lutnick will be closer to that promise than any other person.
“Tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use,” Lutnick said say CNBC in October, arguing that the Trump administration will use the tariffs to “build up.”
“If we want to do it in America, put tariffs, or if we’re competing with it, put tariffs,” he added.
Lutnick is increasingly close to Elon Musk, another top adviser to Trump. The New York Times he stated“and, given the Commerce Department’s mission to expand broadband Internet access, (Lutnick) could provide a significant boost to the tech mogul’s Starlink.”
As part of the transition team, Lutnick has been instrumental in recruiting and hiring. He has promised to do the same as a member of the administration, NPR notify—”stacking” the team exclusively with “loyals”.
Many, however expressed concern over Lutnick’s potential conflicts of interest, including those related to cryptocurrency; Cantor Fitzgerald, manages a low reserve funds For Tether, a stablecoin.
