A year ago, Howard Lutnick was a Wall Street power player. Running the financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, he amassed an estimated net worth of more than $2 billion. Now he’s at the center of Donald Trump’s Washington. As the transition co-chair, he helped to shape the Administration, vetting staffers and filling the Cabinet with billionaires like himself.
As U.S. Commerce Secretary, Lutnick was one of the main officials who urged Trump toward a maximalist approach on tariffs, which triggered a global financial panic. He’s at times drawn the ire of White House aides and business leaders, and some suspect he could take the fall if the nation enters a recession. Others see Lutnick, 63, as trying to expand his influence. He’s made moves to fold the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, into the Commerce Department. Either way, Lutnick’s proximity to power reflects one of Trump’s core bets: that success in business can translate into success in government.
Cortellessa is a TIME senior correspondent