Cherrypicked returns from US Treasury Secretary candidate Scott Bessent’s investment firm were flying around Wall Street group chats Monday, a sign of the mudslinging that has accompanied the race for the highest-profile vacancy in Donald Trump’s cabinet.
A document being shared in WhatsApp threads and Bloomberg chats shows that Bessent’s firm, Key Square, lost money five of the past seven years during a generally profitable run for funds like it. Semafor has confirmed the numbers, which aren’t public because Key Square is a private investment firm.
But they exclude big profits in 2016, Key Square’s first year, as well as 2017 and 2024, a person familiar with the matter said. Macro funds like Key Square aren’t stock-pickers, but rather use bonds, currencies, commodities and other instruments to wager on global trends.
Poor performance would undercut one of Bessent’s key selling points in the race for Treasury — that he’s a gifted investor with a finger on the pulse of the world economy.
It’s the latest shot fired in an ugly personnel battle that has captivated Wall Street. The Treasury post is the most senior cabinet job still unfilled, and one that would be central to Trump’s economic priorities like tax cuts and tariffs.
Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, has made a late charge against frontrunner Bessent, Semafor has reported, throwing the race into chaos and bringing Bessent’s defenders, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, into the lobbying effort.
A representative for Bessent declined to comment.