During his tenure as treasury secretary under the Trump administration, Steve Mnuchin remained a constant figure in the White House amidst significant turnover. Having joined the administration in February 2017, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Mnuchin remained in his position until January 2021.
Since departing from the White House, Mnuchin, now 61 years old, has remained active in the private sector. According to Bloomberg News reporters Hannah Levitt and Bre Bradham, Mnuchin has been involved in a significant banking deal in 2024, capitalizing on opportunities within the struggling U.S. banking sector.
Levitt and Bradham report that Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital led a consortium of investors in injecting over $1 billion into New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), effectively assuming control of the troubled lender catering to apartment landlords. The deal, unveiled on March 6, saw the appointment of former Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting as CEO.
This intervention, as described by Levitt and Bradham, resulted in a surge in the stock price of the struggling lender, yielding an immediate paper profit for the coalition led by Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital. Moreover, it positioned them to potentially earn billions more in the future.
Bloomberg News reporters highlight Mnuchin and Otting’s history of generating controversy while pursuing returns in their business endeavors.
Prior to their roles in the Trump administration, Mnuchin was involved in leading an investor group that acquired the failed mortgage lender IndyMac following the 2008 financial crisis. Under Mnuchin’s leadership, IndyMac was rebranded as OneWest, with Otting installed as CEO. Despite eventually selling the lender for more than double their initial purchase price, the duo faced criticism and accusations that OneWest operated as a “foreclosure machine,” allegedly harming communities in the process.