The WSJ has confirmed as much<\/a>, reporting that “President-elect Donald Trump will name longtime banker and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, turning to a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for the incoming administration\u2019s top economic cabinet post, a transition official said Tuesday.”<\/p>\n From the NYT:<\/p>\n Mnuchin, 53, was the national finance chairman for Mr. Trump\u2019s campaign. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner, before creating his own hedge fund, moving to the West Coast and entering the first rank of movie financiers by bankrolling hits like the \u201cX-Men\u201d franchise and \u201cAvatar.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Treasury secretary, Mr. Mnuchin would play an important role in shaping the administration\u2019s economic policies, including a package of promised tax cuts, increased spending on infrastructure and changes in the terms of foreign trade. He could also help lead any effort to roll back President Obama\u2019s nuclear deal with Iran and opening to Cuba by reimposing sanctions on Tehran and Havana.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As the NYT adds, his selection fits uneasily with much of Mr. Trump\u2019s campaign rhetoric attacking the financial industry. Mr. Trump, in a campaign ad intended as a closing argument, portrayed the chief executive of Goldman Sachs as the personification of a global elite that the ad said had \u201crobbed our working class.\u201d But, the NYT notes, Mnuchin has said that he agrees with Mr. Trump\u2019s priorities, and he was an early supporter of a candidate who clearly prizes loyalty.<\/p>\n When Mr. Trump won New York\u2019s Republican presidential primary in April, Mr. Mnuchin attended the victory party. The next day, he accepted Mr. Trump\u2019s invitation to become the campaign\u2019s national finance director. A number of Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s friends made comments to various publications expressing shock at the decision. Mr. Mnuchin was unfazed. \u201cNobody\u2019s going to be, like, \u2018Well, why did he do this?\u2019 if I end up in the administration,\u201d he told Bloomberg Businessweek in August.<\/p>\n As the WSJ adds<\/a>, “Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s Wall Street pedigree presents a contrast with the populist themes Mr. Trump struck in his campaign, railing against big banks and vowing to close tax loopholes that benefit hedge funds. Mr. Trump also repeatedly attacked his rivals in the primary and general elections for their Wall Street ties, especially those connected to Goldman Sachs.”<\/p>\n If confirmed by the Senate as Treasury secretary, Mr. Mnuchin will join a list of prominent bankers who made similar moves from Wall Street to Washington, including two of his former bosses at Goldman, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin, who were both top Goldman executives before running Treasury.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n For those who have missed our previous piece <\/a>on the career banker, here are some more details on Mnuchin’s background from the WSJ:<\/p>\n Despite his successful Wall Street career, Mr. Mnuchin has no experience running a massive organization\u2014the Treasury Department has 86,000 employees\u2014or in economic or financial policy-making. The biggest entity Mr. Mnuchin has run was the technology division of Goldman, which had over 5,000 employees.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s acquaintances describe him as smart, with several people calling him \u201cnerdy.\u201d He regularly attends New York philanthropic galas. He has long held high-profile positions on charity boards and is a former director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. At an event for New York charity City Harvest in 2006, Mr. Mnuchin and his ex-wife were photographed with Mr. Trump. Mr. Mnuchin is now engaged to Scottish actress Louise Linton.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mr. Mnuchin joined Goldman in 1985. He worked in the fixed-income department, eventually overseeing trading in mortgages, U.S. government, money market and municipal bonds. He made partner in 1994. Mr. Mnuchin later became the firm\u2019s chief information officer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When Goldman converted into a publicly traded company in 1999, Mr. Mnuchin, like other partners, made millions. He later bought a 6,500-square-foot apartment in 740 Park Avenue, a storied Manhattan co-op built by Jackie Kennedy\u2019s grandfather that is known as the \u201cbillionaires\u2019 building.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At a recent conference, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein called Mr. Mnuchin a \u201chighflier, a partner at a young age. He did very well. He is a smart, smart guy.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2002, Mr. Mnuchin left Goldman and later was hired to run a credit fund set up by billionaire George Soros.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2004, Mr. Mnuchin and two former Goldman colleagues founded hedge fund Dune Capital Management LP with financial backing from Mr. Soros. Dune soon expanded into the entertainment business, striking up a film-financing deal with a unit of 21st Century Fox. Among the films Dune financed was \u201cAvatar,\u201d one of the all-time box office hits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 21st Century Fox and News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal, share common ownership.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2008, IndyMac Bank in Pasadena, Calif., collapsed in one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history. Mr. Mnuchin led a group of investors, including funds run by Mr. Soros and other hedge-fund and private-equity titans, who bought it from the government for about $1.5 billion. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation agreed to cover a portion of any future loan losses, a lucrative arrangement for Mr. Mnuchin and his partners. Regulators who negotiated with Mr. Mnuchin found him to be the kind of detail-oriented person who would \u201cknow the cost of every pencil,\u201d according to a person familiar with their thinking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mr. Mnuchin, who became chairman of the renamed OneWest Bank and CEO of its parent company, relocated to Los Angeles and bought a mansion in the Bel Air neighborhood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The deal soon became controversial. In 2011, community activists descended on Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s Bel Air home to protest over the possible eviction of a homeowner who was behind on her mortgage payments to OneWest.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2014, OneWest was sold to CIT Group Inc., earning Mr. Mnuchin and Dune hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, according to a person familiar with the matter. He later pocketed $10.9 million in severance payouts when he left the company.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite the huge profits, OneWest\u2019s legacy continues to trail Mr. Mnuchin, who now sits on CIT\u2019s board and owns more than 1% of its shares.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A portion of OneWest\u2019s mortgage business is under investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last July, CIT said it was forced to take a $230 million charge as it cleaned up accounting problems at OneWest. And two California housing groups this month accused OneWest of discriminating against minorities by not putting branches in their communities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, 14 years after leaving Goldman, Mr. Mnuchin remains in the firm\u2019s orbit, showing up at alumni events and involving other ex-Goldman executives in his finance deals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He has continued to work those angles as Mr. Trump\u2019s finance chairman, a post he assumed in May. Mr. Mnuchin negotiated a joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee, easing the way for major donors to give both to the party and to Mr. Trump. The committee\u2019s chairman, Lewis Eisenberg, is a Goldman veteran and contemporary of Mr. Mnuchin\u2019s father.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n * * *<\/p>\n Even though the nomination is still unofficial, moments ago CBS’ reproter Charlie Keye tweeted that it can also confirm that “Trump has chosen financier Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury Secretary.”<\/p>\n Just now. @CBS<\/a> News has confirmed President-elect Trump has chosen financier Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury Secretary.<\/p>\n — Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeNews) November 29, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/user5\/imageroot\/2016\/11\/29\/mnuchin%20trump%20tower_0.jpg\")
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\nSteven Terner Mnuchin at Trump Tower in Manhattan this month<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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