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Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Raises $2.5 Billion Fund By Bloomberg

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© Reuters. Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Raises $2.5 Billion Fund

(Bloomberg) — Steven Mnuchin has started his next act with a multibillion-dollar fund for private equity investments. 

People familiar with the matter say that Mnuchin is a filmmaker and financier who was also tapped to be the U.S. Treasury secretary under Trump. Most of the money is from sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details are private.

According to Liberty’s July statement, which announced a $200m investment in cybersecurity, Liberty was established this year. 

A spokesperson for Liberty said the company won’t comment on ongoing fundraising, but it has “a diverse investor base including U.S. insurance companies, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors.” A representative for the Public Investment Fund didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The private equity fund marks a step back into investing for Mnuchin, 58, who was one of the rare cabinet members to serve the entirety of President Donald Trump’s four years of office. Prior to joining the government, he started a hedge fund and invested in Hollywood films including “The Lego Movie” and “Suicide Squad.” He also worked for 17 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:).

With his firm Dune Capital Management, Mnuchin led a team of investors that bought mortgage lender IndyMac during the financial crisis, using billions of dollars’ worth of government incentives. OneWest was given the name of the bank and it was then sold to another investor in August 2015. The purchase price for the bank exceeded twice.

Mnuchin was relatively unknown to the outside world of finance. He saw his reputation and influence grow in 2017 when he became Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin managed to avoid many of the controversial issues plaguing the Trump administration. He also helped to create tax cuts and the huge stimulus package that saved Wall Street from an economic disaster in the early stages of the Covid-19 epidemic. 

While Mnuchin already had experience raising money and a reputation for being a savvy investor, the Trump administration’s close ties to the Middle East brought him nearer to some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Before leaving the government, Mnuchin traveled frequently to the region, stopping in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Mnuchin met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in January 2018, the day after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Mnuchin has returned to finance and is now following the same path as his predecessors in Treasury, Tim Geithner. He went on to be president of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm. Hank Paulson (ex-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs) is currently the chair of TPG Rise Climate.

Jared Kushner (former White House senior adviser) is seeking to raise funds for Affinity Partners.

According to investment advisory disclosures, Mnuchin’s name is on a number of Liberty-related entities, such as Liberty 77 Capital Partners LP, Liberty 77 Fund LP, and Liberty 77 Fund International LP. They appear to be a nod to Mnuchin’s prior job: He was the 77th U.S. Treasury secretary.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.



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