“Suicide Squad” executive producer Steven Mnuchin is expected to be named Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary as early as Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
Mnuchin, whose Hollywood credits also include Tom Hanks’ “Sully” and Ben Affleck’s “The Accountant,” is the co-founder of the private investment firm Dune Capital Management and chairman of Dune Entertainment Partners. In May, he was tapped as Trump’s fundraiser-in-chief and has since become a trusted member of the president elect’s transition team.
As Treasury Secretary, the 53-year-old Mnuchin will hold enormous influence over the administration’s economic policies, including proposed tax cuts, infrastructure spending and foreign trade. He would also oversee more than 100,000 employees.
Mnuchin worked at Goldman Sachs for 17 years, leaving in late 2002 at age 39 with a reported $46 million stake in the bank, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He then accepted a job with business magnet George Soros, one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest donors. A year later, Mnuchin invested in Relativity Media and joined Ryan Kavanaugh’s company as non-executive co-chairman, but left just before Relativity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2015.
Interestingly, Mnuchin and Trump didn’t always get along. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Trump has attacked both Mr. Mnuchin’s investment company — suing it in 2008 over a building deal — as well as Goldman Sachs, the Democratic Party and other institutions Mr. Mnuchin has supported.”
“I’ve known Donald Trump for 15 years,” Mnuchin told TheWrap in August. “He wouldn’t have asked me if he didn’t have confidence in me and I wouldn’t have accepted on the spot if I didn’t have a lot of confidence in him. We’ve done business together.”