(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s commerce secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, is taking a key step back from running his financial group, handing off leadership of one of his blank-check companies to his 26-year-old son.
Brandon Lutnick, a trader at his father’s Cantor Fitzgerald LP, has been listed as CEO at its most recently created SPAC, Cantor Equity Partners I Inc., according to a filing Wednesday. The entity, which hasn’t yet made its market debut, has said it aims to raise $200 million to seek a merger with a private company.
Eyes have been on Brandon since his father, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, was tapped to run the Commerce Department. A graduate of Stanford University, Brandon has already helped carry out his father’s business agenda, including a spell working in Switzerland for a large client, cryptocurrency firm Tether Holdings Ltd.
Howard Lutnick, who holds a majority stake in Cantor Fitzgerald, has said he will step down from three businesses it controls — Cantor, BGC Group Inc. and Newmark Group Inc. — as well as divest interests in his firms to comply with government ethics rules. He hasn’t yet named a successor to lead Cantor or the parent company.
A spokesperson for Cantor Fitzgerald declined to comment.
Lutnick and his firm have embraced SPACs since their popularity boomed in 2020 and 2021, with the bank standing by the business as stalwarts including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. retreated amid regulatory scrutiny and high-profile blowups.
All told, Howard Lutnick served as CEO for nine of his firm’s blank-check vehicles that went public, with six of them successfully completing mergers. The majority of those deals were duds with all but one trading below their $10 IPO price.
Cantor Fitzgerald has been credited with $3.2 billion of SPAC deals this year, placing it ahead of bulge bracket banks such as JPMorgan and Bank of America, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.