Scott Bessent (born 1962) is an American investor, philanthropist, and educator.[1][2][3][4] He is the founder of Key Square Group, a global macro investment firm.[1][5][6][7][8]
Bessent was born in Conway, South Carolina.[9][10] He attended Yale College, graduating in 1984.[9][11][12] While at Yale, Bessent wrote for The Yale Daily News, was President of Wolf's Head Society and Treasurer for the class of 1984.[13]
Bessent was previously the Chief Investment Officer of Soros Fund Management, the $30 billion family office of billionaire George Soros.[9][14][15][16] From 2006 to 2011, Bessent was an Adjunct Professor of economic history at Yale, where he taught three courses.[9][10][17][2][12] The Daily Beast included his 2010 class in its listing of “Hottest College Courses.”[18]
Bessent first joined Soros Fund Management (SFM) in 1991 and was a partner there throughout the 1990s.[9][2] At the age of 29, he was asked to head SFM's London office.[9][14][19][20]
According to Sebastian Mallaby's history of hedge funds, More Money Than God, Bessent's analytics played a key role in helping George Soros and Stan Druckenmiller construct SFM's wager against the British pound, which netted the firm a profit of $1 billion.[10][21][5][22][23]
In addition to heading the London office, Bessent served as SFM's head of global research and co-head of external manager selection.2,3,5,16 He also directly managed $1.5 billion of the firm's capital.[9][24]
After resigning from SFM in 2000, Bessent founded a $1 billion hedge fund, which he converted to a family office in 2005.[9][19] He was also a senior investment advisor at fund-of-funds Protégé Partners.[10][2]
Bessent was in the process of starting a new fund in the summer of 2011 when George Soros asked him to return to SFM as CIO.[14][6]
Bessent served as the Chief Investment Officer of Soros Fund Management from 2011 to 2015.[25] Under Bessent's leadership, the firm made a profit of $10 billion.[25][26]
In August 2015, it was announced that Bessent would be leaving Soros Fund Management to start his new firm, Key Square Group, with $2 billion of George Soros's money.[25][15][16]
Bessent founded Key Square Group with Michael Germino, who had been the Global Head of Capital Markets at SFM.[26] A number of the pair's former colleagues from SFM followed them to Key Square.[26][7]
Key Square received a $2 billion anchor investment from George Soros.[25][15][16] By the end of its first quarter of operation, Key Square was managing $4.5 billion.[8]
At the end of 2017, Key Square's assets were $5.1 billion.[25][1] Bloomberg in May 2018 reported that Key Square had mostly outperformed rival macro managers and continued to generate significant investor interest.[25] As part of a pre-arranged deal, the firm gradually returned the Soros capital as it took in other assets.[25] Its investors include Australia's sovereign wealth fund.[1]
Bessent has been active at his alma mater, Yale University, where he sits on the University Council.[13] He and his sister donated the Bessent Library to Yale in honor of their father, H. Gaston Bessent, Jr.[27] Bessent has also endowed three scholarships at Yale, including one for students who are first-generation college matriculants, one for students from South Carolina, and one for students from the Bronx.[27]
Bessent previously served on the board of God's Love We Deliver, an organization founded to deliver meals for homebound people with AIDS.[13][28] He is a supporter of The Harlem Children's Zone, where he has chaired their annual dinner and mentors recent graduates.[29]
Bessent currently serves on the board of trustees of Rockefeller University, where he chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee.[30] He is vice-chair of Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, and a former board member of the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.[30][31] Bessent is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[13][30]
Bessent resides in Charleston, South Carolina.[32]
Bessent is a supporter of Donald Trump and was a co-chair at a Republican fundraiser for the former President in Palm Beach, Florida.[33]