Howard Lutnick is known for rebuilding the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald after it tragically lost the majority of its New York City workforce to the terror attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Now, Cantor is among the top investment banks in the U.S., and Lutnick has moved into public office after more than 40 years at the firm.
In February 2025, he was confirmed as the 41st Secretary of the Department of Commerce. As Commerce Secretary, some of Lutnick’s main responsibilities include overseeing trade agreements, enforcing trade laws, and promoting American businesses abroad.
His appointment came at a time when President Trump pursued an aggressive trade policy by imposing tariffs on some of America’s major trading partners. As those nations react with retaliatory moves, Lutnick will have his work cut out for him.
Here’s how much the billionaire Wall Street heavyweight is worth in 2025 and how he made his money.
What is Howard Lutnick’s net worth?
Lutnick probably has a net worth of between $2 billion to $4 billion, according to various sources. His wealth comes from his ownership stake in Cantor and other sources, based on his financial disclosure to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
His business interests cover hundreds of companies — many of which are limited liability companies or limited partners for which he served as either president, CEO, or chairman — from which he earned hundreds of millions of dollars.
Over a more than four-decade career at Cantor, Lutnick gained a significant ownership stake in the privately held company (reportedly around 60%), giving him a notable share in its profits.
Lutnick’s net worth is around four to eight times that of another wealthy member of Trump’s Cabinet, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whose wealth is estimated at around $500 million.
Related: Donald Trump’s net worth amid tariff hullabaloo
How much does Howard Lutnick make as Commerce Secretary?
Lutnick takes in an annual salary of $250,600 as Commerce Secretary. This is the rate of pay for all Level I positions in the executive schedule.
Who is Howard Lutnick?
Howard William Lutnick was born in Jericho, New York, a Long Island suburb, on July 14, 1961. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Haverford College in 1983.
Lutnick’s career in finance
After graduating from Haverford, Lutnick joined Cantor Fitzgerald as a fixed-income analyst. By 1991, he rose to CEO and president of Cantor, and five years later, in 1996, he became chairman just as Cantor started its electronic trading platform, eSpeed (which went public three years later).
In 2001, a hijacked plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, which housed the majority of Cantor Fitzgerald’s workforce. The firm lost 658 of its 960 New York-based employees, including Lutnick’s 36-year-old brother Gary, who was a partner at Cantor and worked as a trader on its U.S. agency desk.
Lutnick pledged to help the families of its fallen workers by donating 25% of company profits to them over a five-year period and covering their healthcare expenses for 10 years. That came out to a total of $180 million for the families.
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Over the next 20 years, Lutnick expanded Cantor’s businesses in fixed income and investment banking. The firm became a primary dealer for the Federal Reserve, and it sold its eSpeed business to Nasdaq. Among its major subsidiaries, BGC Group is a global brokerage and financial technology company, and Newmark Group is a commercial real estate services company.
After Lutnick was appointed Commerce Secretary, he named two of his sons successors to Cantor, and by the time he left, Cantor and its subsidiaries employed more than 14,000 professionals.
Related: Scott Bessent’s net worth: Trump’s Treasury Secretary’s wealth in 2025
How does Howard Lutnick spend his money?
As a billionaire, Lutnick invests in homes where he spends significant amounts of time. He has a penthouse in Manhattan and a second home in Bridgehampton, New York. He reportedly purchased a home in Washington D.C. that previously belonged to Fox News anchor Bret Baier for $25 million in December 2024, in anticipation of his appointment to the Trump administration.
Lutnick, a Republican, was active in the 2024 presidential election, donating millions of dollars to political action committees (PACs), according to a record of transactions compiled by OpenSecrets, which tracks political contributions.
Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast
