Age, Biography, and Wiki
Scott Bessent was born in 1962, making him 63 years old as of 2025. He is widely recognized for his expertise in hedge funds and global financial markets. Bessent's career has been shaped by his experiences as a financial advisor and his tenure at Soros Fund Management. He has been involved in various philanthropic efforts and holds several board memberships, including Yale University and the Rockefeller University.
| Occupation | Business Executive |
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| Date of Birth | 21 August 1962 |
| Age | 62 Years |
| Birth Place | Conway, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is limited information available on Scott Bessent's physical attributes such as height and weight.
As of December 28, 2024, Bessent's net worth was at least $521 million, according to his financial assets disclosure by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, although his actual net worth is speculated to be much higher. At that time, he owned more than $50 million in each of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF, and the Invesco QQQ, as well as over $50 million in each of U.S. Treasury bills, Chinese yuan, and Japanese yen.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Scott Bessent is married to John Freeman, a former New York City prosecutor.
His mother married five times and his father went bankrupt due to bad real estate investments. He is of French Huguenot and Scottish descent. He has one living younger sister, Paige; his other younger sister, Wyn, died in 2022 after an illness. John Jenrette, a member of the United States House of Representatives best known for being willing to take a bribe and being caught by Abscam, was Bessent's uncle.
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| Husband | John Freeman (m. 2011) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Scott Bessent's net worth is estimated to be between $500 million and $1.3 billion, with some sources suggesting it could be as high as $700 million. His annual salary as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury is $250,600. Prior to this role, he earned significantly more as CEO of Key Square Partners, with reported earnings of $3.8 million over two years.
As part of a prearranged deal, in 2018 the firm returned Soros's investment as it took in other assets. Its investors include Australia's sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund.
On January 28, 2025, Bessent was sworn in as the 79th secretary of the treasury by Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. On January 31, Bessent gave Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team access to the Treasury Department's payment system, which sends out $6 trillion annually in payments from federal agencies and contains millions of Americans' personal tax information. On February 3, Bessent was named the acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; he immediately ordered the agency to halt all work. On February 3, Bessent and acting United States Secretary of Commerce Jeremy Pelter were tasked with implementing a United States sovereign wealth fund.
In April 2025, Bessent reportedly clashed with Elon Musk, who served as a Senior Advisor to President Trump, with the two having engaged in shouting matches. Bessent reportedly shouted "Fuck you!" at Musk, during their confrontations. Bessent and Musk feuded over who would serve as the acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue; after Trump initially named Gary Shapley, Musk's preferred candidate. Shapley was soon replaced by Michael Faulkender, Bessent's preferred pick, after Bessent lobbied Trump.
Bessent has described the U.S. as a "barbell economy", arguing that while it has powerful financial and raw material sectors, it also possesses a weakened middle class. He opposes raising the U.S. federal minimum wage, arguing that it is "more of a statewide and regional issue". Bessent supports lowering interest rates, arguing that lowered rates will ease housing, credit card, and auto loan costs for low-income Americans.
Bessent supports nuclear power. Bessent supports reducing government intervention into the economy, arguing that private sector jobs comparatively offer faster wage growth. He supports easing Supplementary Leverage Ratio regulations for banks.
Career, Business, and Investments
Bessent's career is rooted in hedge funds, having worked closely with George Soros at Soros Fund Management. He later founded Key Square Group, further solidifying his position as a leading figure in financial markets. Bessent's investment portfolio includes substantial holdings in U.S. Treasury bills, ETFs such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Invesco QQQ, and foreign currencies like the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen.
As Secretary of the Treasury, Bessent is responsible for managing the nation's finances, implementing economic policies, and promoting economic growth. His background in global financial markets is expected to influence his approach to these responsibilities.
Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent (born August 21, 1962) is an American government official and former hedge fund manager serving since 2025 as the 79th United States secretary of the treasury. He was formerly a partner at Soros Fund Management (SFM) and founded Key Square Group, a global macro investment firm.
Bessent got his first summer job at age 9. In 1980, he graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School, where he was voted "most likely to succeed". He considered attending the United States Naval Academy but was unwilling to lie about his sexuality. In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in political science from Yale College. Bessent planned to be a journalist. In college, he was an editor of Yale Daily News, president of Wolf's Head Society, and treasurer for the class of 1984. He was chairman of the 1984 Yale Alumni Fund and assistant to the director of athletics.
Bessent secured an internship with Jim Rogers after meeting him at a Yale Career Center event. After graduation, Bessent worked at Brown Brothers Harriman and then for Jim Chanos at Kynikos Associates. He joined Soros Fund Management (SFM) in 1991, eventually becoming head of the London office. In 1992, Bessent was a leading member of the team whose bet on the Black Wednesday collapse of the British Pound sterling earned the firm over $1 billion.
After resigning from SFM in 2000, Bessent founded a $1 billion hedge fund, Bessent Capital. The fund closed in 2005. Bessent has said he learned that he should not change his style or the firm's approach because of investor preferences. He was also a senior investment adviser to fund-of-funds Protégé Partners. Bessent returned to SFM as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015. His bet against the Japanese yen in 2013 yielded more than $1.2 billion in profit in three months.
Bessent left SFM in 2015 to launch Key Square Group, a hedge fund named after a spot on the chessboard, with Michael Germino, who had been the global head of capital markets at SFM. It received a $2 billion anchor investment from George Soros. Key Square uses geopolitics and economics to make macro investments. Its main fund returned 13% in 2016 but declined or broke even every year from 2017 to 2021 before making major gains in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The inconsistent track record scared away clients. Assets under management shrank from $5.1 billion in 2017 to $577 million in 2023 and the number of institutional investors declined from 180 to 20 over the same period. It earned "double digits" percentagewise in 2024.
In April 2025, after Trump announced widespread tariffs, Bessent warned countries against retaliating, promising escalation. He then dismissed the drop in stock values and said he did not expect a recession. On April 9, Trump paused many of the tariffs; Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were credited with convincing Trump to do so. Bessent has advocated pushing for concessions from U.S. trading partners to restrict their economic relationships with China in order to isolate China and gain leverage over it in potential trade talks.
Bessent chaired the investment committee and is a former member of the executive committee on the board of trustees of Rockefeller University. He formerly served on the board of God's Love We Deliver, an organization founded to deliver meals for homebound people with AIDS. He is a trustee of Classical American Homes Preservation Trust (renamed the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation), and a former board member of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston. Bessent is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Social Network
Information on Scott Bessent's social media presence is not widely available, as he is more commonly associated with high-profile financial and governmental roles.
Education
Specific details about Scott Bessent's educational background are not provided in the available sources, but his involvement with Yale University suggests a strong connection to academic institutions.
Bessent graduated from Yale College in 1984. In 1991, he was hired by Soros Fund Management, eventually becoming the head of its London office. In this role, in September 1992, he was a leading member of the group that profited by $1 billion on Black Wednesday, the British Pound sterling crisis. He made another $1.2 billion profit for SFM in 2013 betting against the Japanese yen. After he left the Soros Fund in 2015, he established Key Square Group, a hedge fund.
Bessent sits on the university council at Yale University. He and his sister donated the Bessent Library to Yale University. Bessent has endowed three scholarships at Yale: one for students who are first-generation college matriculants, one for students from South Carolina, and one for students from the Bronx.
