Howard Lutnick Installs Sons Atop Cantor Fitzgerald

Howard Lutnick may be out at Cantor Fitzgerald after becoming the nation’s Commerce Secretary, but the Lutnick dynasty is only getting started.

Howard named 27-year-old Brandon Lutnick as the chairperson of Cantor Fitzgerald, Bloomberg reported. Brandon’s older brother, Kyle Lutnick, will serve as executive vice chairperson.

The pair of Stanford graduates each plied their trade with the Wall Street firm. Brandon has served in corporate strategy and trader roles, while also putting in time with cryptocurrency client Tether Holdings. Kyle, meanwhile, has worked for Knotel, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald’s Newmark Group. He’s also a DJ based in London.

Cantor Fitzgerald also appointed three co-chief executive officers, who will be responsible for running the company’s core unit: Sage Kelly (investment banking), Pascal Bandelier (equities) and Christian Wall (fixed income).

Elsewhere, Barry Gosin, Newmark Group CEO and chairman of its operating company Newmark & Company Real Estate, is adding responsibilities to his plate, while Stephen Merkel was appointed as the chair of Newmark’s board of directors.

All of the leadership upheaval was prompted by Lutnick’s appointment by Donald Trump to lead the Commerce Department. On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Lutnick by a 51-45 vote. The confirmation puts Lutnick in the driver’s seat to enact Trump’s controversial trade and tariff proposals.

On the path to confirmation, Lutnick faced accusations that he improperly elevated his business interests while playing a leading role on the Trump transition team. Lutnick denied the charges.

The 63-year-old billionaire was also required to step down from his leadership roles at Cantor Fitzgerald and Newmark in order to be confirmed for the Commerce Department. He plans to divest his wide array of business interests in the next few months.

The changing of the guard comes more than three decades after Lutnick became president and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, growing in public stature after the company was decimated by the September 11th attacks.

Newmark’s market capitalization as of last week was $3.7 billion.

— Holden Walter-Warner