Former US Treasury Sec Mnuchin Raises Large Private Equity Fund
Posted on 09/20/2021
Private equity is a powerful industry in the U.S., overshadowing Wall Street and traditional investment banking. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin raised about US$ 2.5 billion at his firm Liberty Strategic Capital. Much of that capital is coming from public funds, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is rumored to be a fund investor. Liberty Strategic Capital plans to focus on technology, financial services, and fintech investments. Before serving as U.S. Treasury Secretary for the Trump administration, Mnuchin was with his firm Dune Capital Management. Mnuchin and investors bought mortgage lender IndyMac during the 2008 global financial crisis and sold the bank in August 2015.
Other limited partners in Liberty Strategic Capital’s fund includes Softbank Vision Fund 2, which is managed by Softbank Group Corporation. Other limited partner investors include sovereign funds, family offices, and insurance companies.
In July 2021, Liberty Strategic made its first investment, leading a US$ 275 million fundraising round in cyber security start-up Cybereason.
The last few U.S. Treasury Secretaries have dabbled in private equity. Timothy Geithner, who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013, joined private equity giant Warburg Pincus LLC in March 2014 to serve as the firm’s president and managing director.
The 76th Treasury Secretary under Obama, Jacob Joseph Lew (Jack Lew), became a Managing Director at private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg.
John William Snow is currently the Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management and was a Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush.
