In a statement, Trump praised Bessent, 62, as a “widely respected” investor and economic strategist. “Scott will support my Policies that will drive U.S. Competitiveness, and stop unfair Trade imbalances, work to create an Economy that places Growth at the forefront, especially through our coming World Energy Dominance,” Trump said, adding that he will “Make America Rich Again.”

Many in Trump’s world had expected the president to select a financier to lead Treasury, and Bessent comes with a Wall Street pedigree that the president-elect lauded throughout the campaign. Trump has described the founder of the Key Square Group investment firm as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street” and with a look that’s straight out of “central casting.”

“He’s a nice-looking guy, too!” Trump said after pulling Bessent onstage at a rally in North Carolina this summer.

Bessent’s background as the chief investment officer at Soros’ fund hasn’t dented his ascent into Trump’s orbit. Despite his ties to the famed Democratic megadonor — who has long been the subject of far-right vitriol and conspiracy theories — Bessent has made significant inroads with some of Trump’s biggest loyalists.

Roger Stone, the longtime conservative operative and early Trump ally, said earlier this month on his radio show that he was pulling for Bessent to get the Treasury nomination, calling him a “brilliant man” for whom Trump has “the highest possible regard.”

Bessent has also carefully cultivated relationships with the populist wing of the Trump-era GOP, appearing on Steve Bannon’s show. “I’m a Wall Street guy who loves Main Street, and Main Street has to drive this Trump boom,” Bessent said.

Bessent is a frequent defender of Trump’s economic plans in the media and has often made the case that core elements of Trump’s agenda won’t be as inflationary as many economists fear. In a recent appearance on CNBC, Bessent said deregulation and lower energy prices under Trump would prove disinflationary, adding that he would recommend any new tariffs be “layered in gradually” to spread out their impact on prices.

Still, despite his fast-rising public profile, Bessent isn’t as well known in Washington as others who had been in the running for Treasury — including former SEC Chair Jay Clayton and former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Bessent also beat out other billionaire investors for the top role: Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who is co-chair of Trump’s transition operation and was picked to lead the Commerce Department; Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, and hedge fund manager John Paulson, who withdrew from consideration citing his “complex financial obligations.”

Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, and Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee were also considered for the role.

Bessent would be among the first openly gay Cabinet officials — he lives with his husband in South Carolina and has two children — and the first to lead Treasury.

Throughout the campaign, Bessent called for reducing regulations, cutting the deficit and increasing domestic energy production. He told Bloomberg earlier this year that a second Trump administration “shouldn’t try to deal with entitlements” like Medicare and Social Security. but rather focus on short-term ways to freeze discretionary, non-defense spending. He also said Trump’s calls for across-the-board tariffs were a “maximalist negotiating position.”

But Trump’s pick of Bessent also could portend more tension over the independence of the Federal Reserve in the incoming administration. Bessent, who slammed the Fed for beginning to cut interest rates in September, so close to the election, had pitched the idea of Trump nominating a “shadow Fed chair” to sideline Jerome Powell before his term expires in 2026. But he later told The Wall Street Journal that he had dropped the idea.

Bessent’s track record as an investor will likely inform how he navigates Treasury through a slowing global economy and growing speculation about the dollar’s viability as the world’s primary reserve currency.

As a top executive at Soros’ hedge fund, he played a key role in the currency trader’s famous decision to bet against the British pound, which netted more than $1 billion. He later became the chief investment officer of Soros’ family office and scored another major investment haul by betting against the Japanese yen.

In his interview with Bannon, Bessent said he wanted to see a “big push in bank deregulation” in the new administration. “We’ve got to get a lot of the lending back into the banking system, and let our banks lend,” he said, adding that banks have “plenty of liquidity” but are being held back by regulators.

He has also been a supporter of crypto and would be in a position to carry out Trump’s vow to take a friendlier approach to the industry, which spent millions in the boost Trump and other pro-crypto candidates. “Crypto is about freedom and the crypto economy is here to stay,” Bessent said in a Fox Business interview in July.

Trump’s pick of Bessent won praise from Republicans and major Wall Street figures.

“Scott Bessent is an outstanding pick for Treasury Secretary,” Paulson, the billionaire investor, said. “He has the market experience and financial acumen to successfully implement President Trump’s economic agenda.”

Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said, “Bessent’s extensive private sector experience and market knowledge make him well-positioned” for the job and said the panel would work to “swiftly” consider his nomination.

But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who chairs the Finance Committee, criticized Trump’s selection of a hedge fund manager to run Treasury.

“Donald Trump pretends to be an economic populist, but it wouldn’t be a Trump Treasury Department without a rich political donor running the show,” Wyden said in a statement.

Progressive groups that are critical of Wall Street also pounced on the nomination. Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk said Trump’s selection of Bessent “shows he just wants to keep a rigged system that only works for big corporations and the very wealthy.”