Scott Bessent – a hedge fund manager and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Treasury Department – has a passion for expensive real estate.
The one-time George Soros protégé turned Republican donor has bought and sold countless historic homes over the years.
At various points, he has owned a duplex that once belonged to a Kennedy; an apartment in the famed Dakota whose previous tenant was storied ex-Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev; and a Charleston, South Carolina property that dates back to the 18th century, when it was used as a branch of the First Bank of the United States.
Bessent is known for buying, restoring, and living in these historic properties – before putting them back on the market. He and his husband, John Freeman, even won a preservation award in 2021 for restoring an 1840s property in Charleston that they recently placed back on the market.
“They did extensive research on the property to really fine-tune this thing and bring it back to what it once was,” listing agent Robertson Allen of the Cassina Group told the Wall Street Journal.
In the United States, Bessent has bought and sold more than 20 properties, cumulatively worth more than $127 million, over the course of four decades. His residences are strewn up and down the East Coast: three in Miami, three in Myrtle Beach, and six clustered in New York City and its surrounding suburbs.
Despite his love of collecting real estate, however, Bessent’s investments haven’t always panned out – he has lost money on at least eight properties, according to the Wall Street Journal (NWSA).
If Bessent is confirmed as Treasury Secretary next year, he reportedly plans to move to Washington, D.C., which might lead to yet another new residence for him and his family.
Click through to see some of the properties Bessent has bought and sold over the years.
