In the bitter fight to become Donald Trump's Treasury secretary

Less than a week ago, the world's richest man tried to derail Scott Bessent's bid for Treasury Secretary.

Last Saturday, billionaire entrepreneur and Donald Trump confidant Elon Musk said nominating Wall Street investors as Treasury secretary would amount to maintaining the status quo.

After Musk's tweet about X, Bessent's chances of getting the job on prediction exchange Polymarket plummeted.

The next day, the president-elect's transition team opened the search, focusing on three new candidates, Apollo Global chief Marc Rowan, former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh and Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty.

Rowan, who was in Hong Kong, cut short his Asia trip so he could be interviewed by Trump. He spoke at a conference Tuesday alongside the chief executives of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, then boarded a private jet for an 18-hour flight so he could travel to Trump's estate in Mar-a-Lago Wednesday afternoon.

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Hagerty, meanwhile, had gone with Trump and Musk to SpaceX's latest launch in Texas, fueling speculation that he was becoming the favored candidate. This, just as Warsh, a rising star in Republican economic policymaking circles, was beginning to emerge as Wall Street's preferred choice.

But these three new candidates were just an accessory in the battle to win the top job in the government of the world's largest economy. By Friday, Trump had come full circle, returning to Bessent, the South Carolina hedge fund manager, as his choice.

Trump's choice seemed to indicate that he, not Musk or anyone seeking to influence him, would make the big decisions.

Scott is widely respected as one of the world's leading international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists, the president-elect said. He will help me usher in a new golden age for the United States.

The infighting among the candidates for Treasurer has been extraordinarily bitter in just a few days, making Bessent's return even more dramatic.

At one point, his criticisms began circulating via newsgroups, with documents seen by the Financial Times purporting to show the poor performance of his Key Square Group hedge fund.

Others have questioned Bessent's close ties to George Soros, the liberal hedge fund veteran he worked for and later sought funding from to launch Key Square. Some, including Musk, have endorsed Howard Lutnick, another Wall Street investor who co-led Trump's transition team and had put his name forward for the Treasury role.

The Bessent camp hit back by sharing a new set of documents seen by the FT claiming that Key Square had achieved exceptional returns, particularly during the pandemic, an indication that the hedge fund manager had the skills to weather tough conditions. difficult economic conditions.

As the rhetoric escalated, some Republican donors and people involved in the selection process privately complained about Lutnick's behavior, arguing that he was too brash and too outspoken for a position that requires management discipline. markets. One person close to Trump went so far as to accuse Lutnick of abusing his position to put his candidacy ahead of everyone else.

The fact that Trump was so cautious in his Treasury choices suggested a level of uncertainty that he had not shown in his other choices, which came in quick succession after his victory in the November 5 election.

Trump knew he couldn't afford a misstep. He needed to find someone loyal to the populist economic policies he had defended during his election campaign, particularly in terms of drastic customs tariffs.

But he also needed someone he could trust to protect the metric he cared about most: the U.S. stock market.

As he weighed the decision, Trump also declined nominations for other important economic positions, including director of the National Economic Council, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, secretary of Commerce and Representative American trade.

But by Tuesday, a piece of the puzzle had been solved. Lutnick would be Commerce Secretary, giving him broad responsibilities, including export controls. Trump said Lutnick would also oversee USTR, the agency that manages U.S. trade policy and normally has its own role in the cabinet.

Sensing an opening, financial billionaires in Trump's orbit lobbied for Rowan, some texting the president directly with their support. Financial figures in Trump's inner circle also made pitches, as did a member of the Trump family.

People close to Rowan told the FT he was interested in taking on the role and many Apollo executives began to believe he might leave the company he had transformed into a $700 billion-asset colossus. of dollars.

The billionaire investors' meeting with Trump went well Wednesday, but Rowan also made clear that while he was honored to serve the new president, he would not be a yes-man, said a person with knowledge of the subject. That independence likely hurt his candidacy, one insider said.

On Thursday, it became clear that it would be a race between Warsh and Bessent. A free trader with traditional views on the need for a strong U.S. dollar and an independent Fed, Warsh was seen as a potential counterweight to some of Trump's more radical plans for the economy. He had also made it clear that his priority was to become Fed chairman following Jay Powell's resignation in May 2026.

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Lutnick's camp was also supportive of Warsh, according to people briefed on the matter. One option proposed was for Warsh to remain in the role until the Fed chairmanship opens, they added. But this plan seemed too convoluted, paving the way for Bessent to return to pole position.

His candidacy was bolstered by support from influential people in Maga's circles, particularly Steve Bannon, Trump's former political strategist, and Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, boosting his stature as a consensus candidate.

Praise poured in, including from Larry Kudlow, former director of Trump's National Economic Council, who told the FT that Bessent was absolutely top-notch and an excellent choice. But others deplored the decision.

One influential investor said Rowan would have been a better choice. Marc manages almost a trillion dollars, he is the smartest man on Wall Street and populists are afraid of smart people, the investor said. Bessent will likely follow Trump's lead.

Still, as Trump hoped, many Wall Street investors felt a sense of relief, some of whom took to Musk's social media site X to show their support.

Scott will be instrumental in freeing the animal spirits from Trump's economic plan while remaining vigilant against the enemies of our great country, wrote investor Kyle Bass.

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