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Trump floats billionaire Paulson as potential Treasury chief, Bloomberg reports

March 13, 2024 at 06:07 pm EDT

(Reuters) - Donald Trump, who is set to face President Joe Biden in November's presidential election, has talked about selecting billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson as his Treasury secretary should he win, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Paulson's name has been mentioned in recent discussions, according to the report that cited unnamed people familiar with Trump's thinking.

The conversations were informal and preliminary, the report added. No decisions about a possible cabinet have been made by the former president, it said.

"There have been no discussions about who will serve in a second Trump administration," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said. Paulson is the founder of Paulson & Co, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump officially clinched the Republican Party nomination on Tuesday. Biden, a Democrat, secured his party's nomination as well, setting up the first U.S. presidential election rematch in nearly 70 years.

Citing people with knowledge of the discussions, Bloomberg also reported that other potential options for Trump's treasury secretary include former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Susquehanna International Group founder Jeff Yass and Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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John Paulson

John Paulson is the boss of the investment fund Paulson & Co. founded in 1995. It’s thanks to subprime crisis that he is become famous. Ranked from Trader monthly magazine best trader of the world in 2008, he became a safe value for investment advice. With a fortune amounted to $ 16 billion in 2011, he was ranked as 36th richest people in the world. Today, with $ 36 billion in assets under management, his fund is the third largest global hedge fund.

John Paulson was recognized for his ability to anticipate the market movements. Graduated from Harvard and with an experience in Bear Sterns Investment Bank, he speculated on the housing bubble’s burst and subprime mortgages’ collapse. He created four hedge fund with only one goal: to cover the default risk of these mortgages. One of these funds, the Credit Opportunities opened in early 2007 with $ 130 million, in 12 months was valued at $ 3,2 billion.

John Paulson funds’ assets are valuated at $ 29 billion. His flagship fund, the Paulson Credit, posted a performance of 590% in 2007. Also in 2007, one of his funds invested in agriculture commodities has collected earnings for $ 3,7 billion, another record for the investor who was called by the media “The Sultan subprime”.

John Paulson has hired Alan Greenspan, old Fed’s Chairman.

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