Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department, detailed his wealth and influence across hundreds of firms and left open the possibility of his adult children buying his holdings if he wins confirmation.
Lutnick, CEO of the Wall Street investment bank and brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald LP, confirmed that he’ll divest his interests in the three core firms that constitute his business group: Cantor Fitzgerald, brokerage BGC Group Inc. and property firm Newmark Group Inc. Documents released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics also show roles in at least 800 legal entities.
In his ethics agreement, Lutnick, 63, said that, in line with U.S. law, he will divest a swath of business stakes that count as interests to him, his wife or his “minor children” within 90 days of his confirmation. But that doesn’t discount the possibility of his adult children, two of whom work for his companies, buying stakes in the firms.
The Wall Street billionaire has one of the more complex divestiture situations among Trump Cabinet nominees after a three-decade career atop a small empire of U.S. and international firms. The future control and ownership of his firms, which he’s long run with a tight grip, is also the subject of speculation.
The disclosure shows Lutnick had assets worth at least $806 million. Nominees disclose assets in broad ranges, with the highest tier at more than $50 million. Lutnick listed 12 holdings in that range, including his stakes in Cantor Fitzgerald, Newmark and BGC. Lutnick is worth $2.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Lutnick won’t be liable for capital-gains taxes from the sale of his interest in Cantor Fitzgerald. He can request a certificate of divestiture, which will exempt him from the taxes, provided he invests the proceeds in approved assets — Treasury bills or broadly-based mutual funds — within 60 days of the sale.
Many of the firms listed in the documents appear to be linked to property investments, special-purpose vehicles or other entities tied to Cantor Fitzgerald. The filing also references holdings in or income from restaurants, artificial intelligence firms and a medical-device firm.
Cryptocurrency
While Lutnick and Cantor are major cryptocurrency supporters, the filing makes no mention of direct crypto holdings owned by the CEO. The filing references a personal shareholding in Rumble Inc., the right-wing video site that went public through a Cantor special-purpose acquisition company and received a $775 million investment from another of Lutnick’s key clients — the crypto firm Tether Holdings Ltd., which has been under investigation by federal prosecutors.
Lutnick was to have faced a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
The Cantor Fitzgerald CEO earned distributions from the firm of nearly $200 million in 2023 and 2024, according to the disclosure.
Lutnick and related entities had several positions in an asset labeled as an HIC repo, apparently related to Cantor’s role as a custodian and dealer of U.S. Treasuries. The largest of those positions was worth at least $50 million, according to the disclosure.
Lutnick has borrowed at least $100 million from Bank of America Corp., the filing shows. He had two loans from the bank, each with a balance of at least $50 million, with the first charging interest of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 1.65% and the second charging SOFR plus 2.25%.
The ethics agreement also discloses that Lutnick is entitled to receive royalties from a book by his college friend, Tom Barbash, about the impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when more than 650 Cantor Fitzgerald employees died in the collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers.
Lutnick will remain a trustee for his several family trusts but will divest their stakes in GE HealthCare Technologies, GE Vernova LLC, GE Aerospace, Nasdaq Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Roivant Sciences Ltd. The disclosure also mentions a trust stake in Kimberly Akimbo LLC, an apparent reference to an entity linked to the Broadway musical.