President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary operates a hedge fund that reaped a massive windfall two years ago — even as global markets sagged.

Hedge fund executive Scott Bessent survived an internal squabble over the role of Treasury secretary, a key position that will face almost immediate deadlines and pressures.

When Donald Trump announced Friday that hedge fund manager Scott Bessent was his pick for Treasury secretary, there was a massive sigh of relief from the markets, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury falling sharply (a sign that investors think Bessent will help keep inflation cool) and the stock market getting a little bump.

If confirmed, Bessent would runn the department that manages the nation's finances as well as its tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service.

Bessent is married to his husband, John Freeman. Freeman is a former New York City prosecutor. Bessent and his husband, Freeman, reportedly share two children together. The family keeps their personal life away from the public eye. As of 2024, Bessent has a net worth of $1 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Now is one of the stronger times of the year for stocks. pic.twitter.com/Hh4kA7xx6V — Ryan Detrick, CMT (@RyanDetrick) November 26, 2024 The stock market rallied on Monday as investors reacted positively to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary.

In 1992, Bessent helped Soros pull off the firm’s greatest trade: shorting the British pound. The British government was part of the European Union at the time, and its central bank—the Bank of England—had committed to keeping the value of the pound within a strict range alongside other European currencies,