Trump taps financial services company CEO as commerce secretary

Washington, US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped the CEO of a top financial services company as his commerce secretary and US trade representative.

This is one of the rare times that both the positions have gone to one person.

"I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my administration as the US Secretary of Commerce," Trump said. "He will lead our tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the US Trade Representative."

"In his role as co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest administration America has ever seen," the president-elect added.

A dynamic force on Wall Street for more than 30 years, Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983 and rapidly rose through the ranks to become its president and CEO at the age of 29.

Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 960 New York-based employees, including Lutnick's brother, during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

"He emerged from these events with an indomitable sense of purpose to rebuild the firm to honour those lost, support their families, and become a beacon of hope for those who remained. He was an inspiration to the world the embodiment of resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy," the Trump transition team said.

Lutnick and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund donated USD 180 million to the families of 9/11 victims.

He has also donated more than USD 100 million to victims of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies around the world.

Lutnick serves on the board of directors of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the Weill Cornell Medicine. He was named the Financial Times' Person of the Year in 2001 and Ernst & Young's United States Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010.

He received the Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honour granted to non-military personnel by it.

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