5 Things to Know About Steven Mnuchin
Donald Trump chose Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as his Treasury secretary, a role that oversees the country’s tax system, borrows money on behalf of the government, and imposes financial sanctions against enemies of the U.S.
On Feb. 13, the Senate confirmed Mnuchin's appointment with a 53–47 vote.
Mnuchin, 53, was among eight of Trump's Cabinet picks that Democratic lawmakers called the "most troublesome." They had hoped for fair hearings of these appointments - and not for them to be rushed through, the Associated Press reported.
Here are five things to know about Mnuchin (pronounced mi-new-chin):
1. He spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs.
During his tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mnuchin led the mortgage department when it created collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps - those are the mortgage products that played a big part in melting the global economy in 2008, according to Bloomberg. His boss at the time was Lloyd Blankfein, who’s now the CEO of Goldman Sachs and the subject of a Trump campaign ad that suggested Hillary Clinton and Blankfein were global elites robbing the working class of their wealth.
Mnuchin left Goldman Sachs in 2002 to start a hedge fund, according to Business Insider, and, later, an investment fund with George Soros, a billionaire Democrat who has called Trump a “con artist and a would-be dictator.” The Trump campaign included Soros in the ad with Blankfein and Clinton.
2. He faces intense scrutiny for his role in the 2008 financial crisis.
Once the Great Recession began in 2008 - thanks, in part, to the toxic mortgages Mnuchin helped package and sell at Goldman Sachs - Mnuchin made a number of shrewd moves that would leave him with millions in profits, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In 2009, as the global economy spiraled downward, Mnuchin led a group (which included Soros) that bought the housing lender IndyMac. They renamed it OneWest, and Mnuchin served as its chairman.
OneWest was allegedly very shady. It reportedly tried to foreclose on a 90-year-old woman over a 27-cent payment error; it held back a large number of homeowners’ insurance claims after Hurricane Sandy, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; and it faces accusations of refusing to issue mortgage loans to people of color and not locating bank branches in minority communities.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren even called Mnuchin the “Forrest Gump of the financial crisis” because, presumably, he stumbled into situations that made him rich - at the expense of average Americans, according to Warren.
“His selection as Treasury Secretary should send shivers down the spine of every American who got hit hard by the financial crisis, and is the latest sign that Donald Trump has no intention of draining the swamp and every intention of running Washington to benefit himself and his rich buddies,” she said.
3. He has no government experience.
Mnuchin was the national finance chair for Trump’s presidential campaign but he’s never held a role in government. "Over his business career, he was never particularly involved in politics, nor did he publicly express an interest in public policy,” The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote. “He never ran a large organization or showed himself to be an accomplished economist.”
Still, members of the finance community have offered support for Mnuchin. Henry Paulson, the secretary of Treasury under George W. Bush (and former Goldman Sachs chief executive), said Mnuchin “would be an excellent choice.”
4. He helped finance a number of blockbuster Hollywood movies.
In 2004, Mnuchin started Dune Capital Management, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company has co-financed a number of movies throughout the years, including The Devil Wears Prada, the X-Men franchise, and Avatar. Mnuchin, according to the Washington Post, is also listed as an executive producer on 31 movies, among them: The Lego Movie, American Sniper, Mad Max: Fury Road, and How to Be Single.
He also appears briefly in the Warren Beatty film, Rules Don’t Apply.
In 2014, his Hollywood career hit a snag after he invested in the production company Relativity Media, where he also became a non-executive co-chairman, the Washington Post reported. Mnuchin left Relativity seven months later, shortly before it filed for bankruptcy.
As for Dune Capital Management, it split into two companies in 2010: Dune Capital, where Mnuchin was chairman and co-CEO, and Dune Real Estate Partners. Dune Capital, according to Forbes, filed papers to shut down in 2013.
5. He is engaged to a Scottish actress.
After taking over IndyMac in 2009, Mnuchin moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he eventually ended his 15-year marriage to Heather Mnuchin, with whom he had three children, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (The couple also donated to Hillary Clinton in previous elections, The Hollywood Reporter pointed out.) On June 24, 2017, he married Louise Linton, a Scottish actress and producer. President Trump and Vice President Pence both attended his wedding. Linton has 19 acting credits to her name, including, most recently, Rules Don’t Apply, the same film in which Mnuchin makes an appearance.
Linton was the subject of controversy last summer when her self-published memoir about volunteering in the African nation of Zambia drew intense criticism for its stereotypes of African people and questionable claims about her actual work there. Linton eventually pulled the book from Amazon, Quartz reported.
Mnuchin has joked, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that he and Linton might get married on the White House lawn.
With reporting from The Associated Press.
This story was updated on February 13 with Mnuchin's Senate confirmation.
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