White House role may go to hedge fund impresario Scaramucci after all

Anthony Scaramucci’s on-again, off-again job with the Trump White House may soon be on again.

White House officials tell FOX Business that the hedge fund impresario, who last year announced the sale of his investment company SkyBridge Capital to join team Trump, may finally be getting a job with the administration. If the job does emerge, it would be the culmination of months of frustration for Scaramucci, who was a major Trump fundraiser and adviser during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In December, Scaramucci initially saw his aspirations of a senior position materialize with a top post inside the White House Office of Public Liaison. Then, around the time of the presidential inauguration it suddenly evaporated amid controversy surrounding the sale of his company to a Chinese conglomerate, and some of his public comments that rankled senior Trump officials.

Since then Scaramucci’s future with the Trump administration has been in limbo; a few weeks ago at the SALT Conference, a popular gathering of hedge fund executives he founded, Scaramucci openly lamented about being passed over by the White House, stating: “I didn’t expect to be here to be honest…I was offered a job by the administration. The job didn’t materialize.”

But more recently, following further discussions with the White House, a job now appears to be possibly in the works, people inside the administration tell FOX Business. Scaramucci is seriously being considered for a post in the Commerce Department, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. A senior official inside the White House also said he might be considered for an ambassadorship or an ambassador-level post.

“We consider him a valuable supporter of the president and we’re looking at different possible roles,” this official said.

Arthur Schwartz, a spokesman for Scaramucci, declined to comment. A White House spokesman had no comment.

In recent weeks, Scaramucci has also been weighing a possible return to the asset management business, people with knowledge of his intentions tell FOX Business. But, he is said to favor going to the White House, these people add.

People with knowledge of the potential appointment said Scaramucci spent at least part of his day Wednesday meeting with administration officials. It’s unclear if he met with the president, who departed Washington just before 11 a.m. for a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio to discuss his health care reform package and plans to rebuild America’s infrastructure. But Scaramucci did meet with White House officials including Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon, these people add.

It’s unclear when an appointment could be announced, if Scaramucci were to get the job. The sale of the majority stake he held in SkyBridge to the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group for an estimated $100 million is set to close this month. When it was announced in January, the sale raised some eyebrows given Trump’s own campaign rhetoric of China as a currency manipulator, and like all major Chinese companies, the country’s Communist Party has a heavy hand in HNA’s business model.

If Scaramucci does get the White House position, he would get a favorable tax treatment that business executives receive when they sell assets to join the federal government that would shave tens of millions of dollars off his tax bill for the sale.