Donald Trump will reportedly tap Haverford College megadonor Howard Lutnick for Commerce secretary
Lutnick has donated $65 million to the Main Line liberal arts college .
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President-elect Donald Trump will tap Haverford College megadonor and Wall Street financial executive Howard Lutnick to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, multiple news outlets reported Tuesday.
Lutnick was previously considered a top contender to be Trump’s Treasury secretary — a high-powered role that answers directly to the president on matters of the country’s economy.
But the recent introduction of dark-horse candidates, including Marc Rowan — a cofounder of Apollo Global Management and chair of the Board of Advisors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School — threw that prospect into jeopardy. Trump has not yet named his pick for Treasury secretary.
Punchbowl first reported Tuesday that Trump would tap Lutnick for Commerce secretary instead.
Trump has not yet publicly confirmed the cabinet-level appointment.
Lutnick, 63, is CEO and chairman of the sprawling Manhattan financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and also serves as Trump’s transition team cochair.
In that role, Lutnick has helped Trump source candidates for the thousands of federal positions that make up a presidential administration.
Lutnick’s ties to the Philadelphia region run deep.
The Cantor Fitzgerald executive graduated Haverford College in 1983, and is the largest donor in the Main Line liberal arts college’s history.
Lutnick has given $65 million to the school over his lifetime, resulting in the Lutnick Library, the Gary Lutnick Tennis & Track Center, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, and other facilities.
He also served for decades on the school’s Board of Managers, including stints as chair and vice chair.
Lutnick, speaking with The Inquirer in October, credited much of his success to Haverford, which offered him a full scholarship as a freshman Division III tennis recruit following separate family tragedies that claimed the lives of his mother and father.
The Commerce secretary, while often overlooked by the public, plays an influential role in U.S. economic policy.
The secretary is tasked with creating conditions for the country’s economic growth, and oversees a department that spans 47,000 employees across the nation.