Capital Economy, Business and Finance
In 1992, an aspiring 29-year-old financier working for George Soros helped to “break” the Bank of England by amassing a $10 billion bet that the pound was overvalued. The government tried to support the currency, but the pressure was too much.
Down it went, while Soros’s fund earned more than $1 billion. That young financier was none other Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s market-pleasing pick for Treasury secretary. Breaking the bank wasn’t Bessent’s only bold bet.
He went on to exploit vulnerability in the Japanese yen, and more recently his fund, Key Square Capital, made its best ever returns betting that the US bout of inflation that started in 2022 would last longer than the Fed predicted.
Former colleagues describe Bessent as “cerebral”, “opportunistic” and “not a yeller” – all traits which will no doubt help in his new role running Trump’s economy. He says he wants to kickstart an “economic lollapalooza”.
On tariffs he says the “gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged”.
