Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will sell shares in the two listed companies for $361 million to comply with government ethics.
Wall Street investors and large donors of the Trump campaign will sell their shares in BGC and Newmark for $234 million and $127 million, the two companies said Monday.
Additionally, Lutnick transferred his ownership of Cantor Fitzgerald to the trust fund to benefit his children and was controlled by his son Brandon Lutnick.
Wall Street executives who join the government rank are often asked to divest or give up trust materials to avoid conflicts of interest. These rules allow any immediate tax on earnings to be made for such sales to attract top talent without penalizing their assets.
The move further cemented control of Cantor Fitzgerald, whose father was identified as business secretary after Brandon Lutnick was appointed chairman of the company in February.
The 27-year-old is on the rise of Wall Street under President Trump. He recently worked with SoftBank, Tether and Bitfinex to leverage the cryptocurrency revival as a new government.
As part of the leadership transition, Canto appointed Pascal Bandelier, Sage Kelly and Christian Wall as co-directors. In December, the company also hired Citi's Mike Whitaker as chief operating officer.
Cantor also sold two minority stocks on Monday: one to 26NORTH, a private capital company led by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, another private capital company and another Glenn August, founder of credit manager Oak Hill Advisors.
Brandon Lutnick said: “As we move into the next chapter of our company’s journey, the support of these world-class investors underlines confidence in our management team and growth strategies.”
Howard Lutnick, a longtime Trump ally, played a key role in shaping the president's trade agenda, including reaching new tariff deals with China and the EU.
He is also considered the U.S. Treasury Secretary and is a member of Trump's 2024 fundraising campaign, with personal donations of more than $10 million and helped raise about $75 million in total.
Other wealthy people use the same mechanism to sell stocks, reducing conflicts of interest but also avoiding millions of dollars in taxes.
Hank Paulson sold nearly $500 million in Goldman Sachs shares in 2006 after President George W. Bush served as Treasury Secretary. To take advantage of the program, the proceeds must be invested into the U.S. Treasury or a broad mutual fund. If these investments are later sold, taxes will eventually be paid.