John Paulson, the billionaire financier, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from contention to be President-elect Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary.
“Although various media outlets have mentioned me as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, my complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position in President Trump’s administration at this time,” Paulson said in a statement.
The veteran investor and close Trump ally said he planned to “remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals.”
The statement was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Paulson was among several major Wall Street figures that Trump has been weighing for Treasury, including billionaire investor Scott Bessent, who has been serving as a key economic adviser to Trump.
Paulson, a hedge fund manager who famously made billions of dollars betting on the housing market collapse before the 2008 financial crisis, was an early Wall Street supporter of Trump back in 2016.
In his statement Tuesday, Paulson said he was “ecstatic that President Trump will be back in office.” Trump “is off to a fast start with his appointments, and his policies will have an immensely positive impact on all Americans,” he said.