Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offloads Cantor Fitzgerald stakes, leaving crypto behind

Howard Lutnick has given up control of Cantor Fitzgerald, ending over 30 years of leadership at one of Wall Street’s most well-known firms.

On Monday, Cantor confirmed that Howard transferred his entire stake in the company to his children and a group of outside investors.

The decision comes after his February 24 swearing-in as Commerce Secretary under President Donald Trump, and it fulfills ethics rules requiring officials to cut financial ties that might create conflicts of interest.

According to Reuters, the stake is going into trusts for Howard’s adult children, with control resting in the hands of his son Brandon Lutnick, who now serves as Cantor’s CEO and chairman.

In addition to the family transfer, Cantor announced that Josh Harris, founder of alternative asset firm 26North, and Glenn August, who runs Oak Hill Advisors, will join as minority investors.

Howard gives up BGC and Newmark shares worth $278 million

Howard also sold off his Class A shares in two of Cantor’s biggest subsidiaries. He sold BGC Group shares for $151.5 million and shares in Newmark Group, a real estate firm, for $127 million. 

Both companies bought the shares back directly. Cantor Fitzgerald will also take ownership of his Class B BGC shares, keeping majority control of both BGC and Newmark in-house.

Cantor said Howard will no longer receive any financial benefits from Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC, or Newmark as of May 16. “Secretary Lutnick has fully complied with federal ethics obligations,” the firm said in a statement. That includes stepping away from any future income or equity tied to his longtime companies.

This clears the way for Brandon, who is now fully running the show, to drive Cantor into crypto—a path his father set in motion but now legally has to step away from. Howard had previously helped structure partnerships between Cantor and Tether, a major stablecoin company. Brandon is taking that foundation and pushing forward with a much bigger plan.

Brandon Lutnick leads Twenty One Capital with $3.6 billion bitcoin fund

Brandon is now working with Tether, Bitfinex, and SoftBank to launch a bitcoin holding vehicle called Twenty One Capital. The fund will start with 42,000 Bitcoins, which would make it the third-largest BTC reserve in the world.

Brandon’s plan is to create a public crypto company modeled after Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), which grew its market cap to $91 billion after loading up on Bitcoin. The vehicle is being built through a reverse merger with Cantor Equity Partners, Brandon’s SPAC that raised $100 million in 2024.

According to Twenty One Capital, the entire deal values the firm at $3.6 billion, assuming Bitcoin stays at $85,000. The goal is to go even bigger by raising a $385 million convertible bond and a $200 million private equity placement to buy more Bitcoins on top of the initial reserves.

Each of the partners is contributing Bitcoin directly. Tether will provide $1.5 billion in BTC. SoftBank and Bitfinex will add the rest, though exact numbers weren’t disclosed.

Eventually, all of their Bitcoin will be converted into shares in Twenty One Capital. The pricing is already set: $13 per share for the private placement, and $10 per share for the convertible bond round.

Brandon’s goal is to create a new kind of crypto investment company that sits alongside the industry’s largest players. The firm said in April that its structure allows it to “absorb billions in crypto” and position itself for long-term holdings—just like Strategy, but backed by some of the most powerful names in crypto finance.

Howard, for now, is out of all of it. He’s no longer allowed to touch any part of the Cantor crypto pipeline. And with President Trump in the White House again, the pressure on top officials to comply with conflict-of-interest laws is higher than ever.

Brandon is still using the Cantor name, but it’s clear he’s steering it somewhere very different than Howard ever did.

Your crypto news deserves attention - KEY Difference Wire puts you on 250+ top sites