All about Treasury nominee Scott Bessent, his husband and family

Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his husband and family, could become first Senate-approved LGBTQ+ member in a Republican cabinet.

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be secretary of the Treasury, after he helped raise millions of dollars for Trump.

In a statement posted on Truth Social at the time, Trump praised Bessent as “one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists”, adding: “Scott’s story is that of the American Dream… together, we will make America rich again, prosperous again [and] affordable again.”

According to Forbes, the “pro-tariff Wall Street veteran” and former colleague of Democratic megadonor George Soros is likely to become the most prominent voice shaping the Trump economy.

If he’s confirmed, Scott Bessent will become be the first openly gay secretary of the Treasury. He’ll also become only the second openly gay man to serve in the Cabinet of the United States (after Pete Buttigieg).

What’s more: As the secretary of the treasury is fifth in the United States presidential line of succession, he will become the highest-ranking openly LGBTQ+ person in American history. But what do we know about Scott Bessent? Here are all of the key facts about him, as well as his husband and family.

What does Scott Bessent do for a living?

The 62-year old graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science in 1984, and joined Soros Fund Management in 1991, rising to become a partner in the business.

He resigned from SFM in 2000 to start his own hedge fund, which closed in 2005. Bessent went back to SFM and worked there until 2015, then left again in 2015 to begin a new firm, Key Square Group.

Key Square Group has had a bit of a rocky ride. It lost money or broke even every year until 2021, but started making gains after that. However, its assets have shrunk from a high of $5.1 billion in 2017. According to Forbes, KSG had less than $600 million in assets under management as of the end of 2023.

Bessent has said he’ll resign from Key Square Group and sell his stake in the company if he’s confirmed.

What’s Scott Bessent’s net worth?

As part of the confirmation process, Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary has disclosed that he has assets worth at least $521 million, including a home in the Bahamas and art and antiques worth $1 million to $5 million. He also has more than $50 million in U.S. Treasury bills, plus significant cryptocurrency investments.

In total, he’s believed to have a net worth of at least $1 billion (£795 million).

Where do Bessent and his family live?

The Bessent-Freeman family live in a truly enviable pink-coloured mansion in Charleston, South Carolina.

Scott Bessent purchased the historic John Ravenel House in 2016 for $6.5 million, and commissioned work to repair and restore the building, an effort that won a Preservation Society Award in 2021.

The Charleston Preservation Society noted that “The property owners, Scott Bessent and John Freeman, assembled an all-star team to undertake this multi-year project that included architect Glenn Keyes, preservation contractor Moby Marks and New York-based landscape architect Perry Guillot.”

It has eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, and is known as the “Pink Palace.” However, the family may not be there for much longer. It’s currently on the market for US$22.25 million, according to South China Morning Post.

What else do we know about Scott Bessent’s husband and family?

Scott Bessent’s husband John Freeman previously worked a prosecutor in New York City. It is unclear whether Freeman still practises law. The couple were married in 2011, and have two children – Cole and Caroline.

In an interview with Yale Alumni Magazine, Scott Bessent spoke about their surrogacy journey.

“In a certain geographic region at a certain economic level, being gay is not an issue. What’s fantastic is now, people in the rest of America, whether blue collar or white collar, have access to everything. If you had told me in 1984 when we graduated and people were dying of AIDS that 30 years later I’d be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Surrogacy and same-sex marriage have both come under significant attack in the US recently. The previous Trump administration unilaterally denied the marriage status of LGBTQ+ couples. Under this policy, all children born to LGBTQ+ married couples were labeled as being born “out of wedlock” by the State Department.

And in April 2024, a Trump advocate – Michael Knowles – called surrogacy ‘evil’ and said anyone involved should be imprisoned for life “at least” – appearing to hint that the death penalty should also be used.

He also used his platform to describe surrogacy as “grave, grave child abuse.”

In aligning himself with Trump and his allies, it seems that Scott Bessent may well be helping to erode the rights that allowed him to get married and have a family in the first place.