Howard Lutnick

Howard William Lutnick (born July 14, 1961) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist and politician who has been the 41st and current United States Secretary of Commerce since 2025. He has been Chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald since 1996. He is also the chairman of BGC Group since 2004. Lutnick survived the September 11 attacks when he was at the World Trade Center. Lutnick owns 60% of Cantor Fitzgerald, with a net worth of "at least $1.5 billion".

In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump picked Lutnick to be his secretary of commerce for his second administration. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February 2025.

Early life
Lutnick was born into a Jewish family on July 14, 1961 in Jericho on Long Island. He studied at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. His parents died of cancer before Lutnick started college. The president and dean of Haverford called Lutnick a week after his father's death and offered him a full scholarship for his education there. Lutnick graduated from the school with a degree in economics in 1983.

Business career
Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983.  In 1991, Lutnick was named president and CEO of the company, and he became chairman in 1996. In 2004, Lutnick and then head of the London office Lee M. Amaitis decided to split Cantor Fitzgerald into two separate operations. Cantor would become head of the newly formed BGC Partners. In 2008, Lutnick helped merge BGC Partners and eSpeed, a deal worth $1.3 billion.

September 11 attacks
At the time of the September 11 attacks, Cantor Fitzgerald's offices was located in the 101–105th floors in the World Trade Center's North Tower, just above where a hijacked plane hit the building.  None of the employees who were in the Cantor offices that morning survived the attacks. In total, 658 of Cantor's 960 employees died that day, including Lutnick's brother, Gary Lutnick.  Lutnick himself would have been in the office that morning, but on September 11 he was taking his son Kyle to his first day of kindergarten. He survived the collapse of South Tower by taking cover under a car nearby.
After the attacks, Lutnick made several public appearances, and quickly became a well known survivor of the September 11 attacks. Four days after the attacks, on September 15, Lutnick announced that he would stop the paychecks of nearly 700 employees who were missing or had died. In 2006, the firm donated $180 million to the relatives of their employees affected by the 9/11 attack.

Philanthropy
Just days after the September 11 attacks, Lutnick created the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund as a non-profit organization to help the families of Cantor employees who died in the attacks of September 11. The fund was started with a $1 million donation from Lutnick himself.  Lutnick's sister Edie Lutnick, a former labor lawyer, agreed to join the charity as executive director and co-founder. The fund has given out $180 million to families of Cantor employees and $280 million altogether as the fund has donated to efforts to help victims of natural disasters.Goldberg, Eleanor (January 15, 2013). "Cantor Fitzgerald Slacks on 9/11 Pledge, But Promises $10 Million to Sandy Relief". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 10, 2016.

Each year on September 11, or the business day closest to September 11, Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners hold a Global Charity Day event and pledge 100 percent of the day's revenue to charity.  Since 2005, Global Charity Day events have raised about $113 million.

Support of Donald Trump
On May 17, 2019, Lutnick hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump at his home in Manhattan, raising some $5 million. On August 2, 2024, Lutnick hosted a fundraiser for Trump and his supporters at his home in Bridgehampton, New York. Two weeks later, Trump hired him and Linda McMahon as co-chairs of his 2024 presidential transition team.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Nomination
On November 19, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump picked Lutnick to be his secretary of commerce for his second administration.

Lutnick appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on January 29, 2025. The committee advanced his nomination in a 16–12 vote on February 5. On February 18 2025, the Senate confirmed Lutnick as the secretary of commerce by a 51–45 vote.

Personal life
On December 10, 1994, Lutnick married Allison Lambert, a law associate.  They have four children together.

References

Other websites

Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:American billionaires
Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:Politicians from New York City
Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians
Category:Philanthropists from New York (state)
Category:People from Jericho, New York
Category:United States Secretaries of Commerce