Billionaire Howard Lutnick to divest corporate holdings to assume commerce secretary post, documents show

Howard Lutnick, the billionaire financial executive named by President Trump to head the Commerce Department, has agreed to divest his holdings in a range of business interests, including stepping down from his longstanding position as head of the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald.

Lutnick also agreed to step down from his position with the global brokerage and financial technology company BGC Group, Inc., which holds sizeable government contracts, and he has agreed to depart as chairman of Newmark Group, Inc., a commercial real estate firm, according to an ethics filing obtained by CBS News.

That document and a 92-page financial disclosure report Lutnick filed late Wednesday offer a glimpse into considerable challenges of divestiture facing the long list of super-wealthy executives who have sought positions in the incoming Trump administrations.

Lutnick has pledged to avoid conflicts of interest that may arise as he works to promote U.S. corporate interests atop the Commerce Department. As someone who will retain vast holdings even after he steps down from his corporate positions, the task will be complex.

As commerce secretary, Lutnick, if confirmed, would be in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.

An advocate for imposing wide-ranging tariffs, Lutnick told CNBC in September that “tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use — we need to protect the American worker.” During his campaign, Mr. Trump proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China — and a tariff of up to 20% on everything else the U.S. imports. More recently, Mr. Trump has said a 10% tariff on goods from China could be imposed as soon as February, and he threatened tariffs of 25% against Canada and Mexico.

In recent years Cantor Fitzgerald has become heavily involved in the crypto space, backing one company in particular, Tether. Cantor stands to benefit from the Trump administration’s stated support for weakening crypto regulation.

The firm is still widely known for absorbing devastating losses during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when about two-thirds of its New York-based workforce perished, including Lutnick’s brother.

Lutnick donated millions to the effort to reelect Trump and other Republicans. He hosted a fundraiser for Trump last August that raised $15 million and also gave $5 million to the Make America Great Again PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records.

contributed to this report.