Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, who lead financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald’s parent company, could benefit financially from the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling that invalidated most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs, a decision that opens the door to seeking refunds of duties already paid.
Newsweek reached out to Cantor Fitzgerald’s press team for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
The Supreme Court’s Friday decision was focused on tariffs enacted through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which has been a core pillar of his economic policy since Trump took office in January 2025. Trump has repeatedly announced, imposed, paused and reinstated a slew of tariffs at varying rates on U.S. trading partners to curb immigration, drug trafficking, and reduce trade deficits.
Trump’s use of the 1977 IEEPA to impose tariffs without seeking congressional approval or conducting investigations first has raised legal alarms. The law gives presidents broad power to impose economic sanctions during national emergencies, but Trump is the first president to use it to impose tariffs.
Lutnick previously served as CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald before stepping down to become the Secretary of Commerce. Brandon and Kyle Lutnick now hold senior leadership roles at Cantor Fitzgerald and its parent company following their father’s departure. Brandon Lutnick serves as chairman, while Kyle Lutnick is executive vice chairman, overseeing the firm’s affiliated businesses.
The court did not address whether companies or individuals would receive any refunds for the billions of dollars that they have paid in tariffs over the past year.
What To Know
In July 2025, Wired reported that “Traders at the firm’s investment banking subsidiary, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., say they have the capacity to buy the rights to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential refunds from companies who have paid Trump’s tariffs.”
Despite Lutnick’s outspoken support for tariffs as commerce secretary, Cantor Fitzgerald has drawn scrutiny after reports said it explored deals that would let investors profit if Trump’s tariffs were struck down in court by buying rights to potential tariff refunds from companies that paid the duties.
In a letter reviewed by Wired this summer, a Cantor representative reportedly said the firm was willing to trade tariff refund rights for 20 to 30 percent of the duties companies have paid.
“So for a company that paid $10 million, they could expect to receive $2-$3 million in a trade,” the representative wrote, per Wired. “We have the capacity to trade up to several hundred million of these presently and can likely upsize that in the future to meet potential demand.”
The letter also stated, according to Wired, “We’ve already put a trade through representing about ~$10 million of IEEPA Rights and anticipate that number will balloon in the coming weeks.”
A spokesperson for Cantor Fitzgerald told the magazine in a statement at the time, “Cantor is not in the business of positioning any risk or taking views in litigation claims including tariffs.”
Some online users have raised eyebrows over the possibility that the Lutnick family and Cantor Fitzgerald could make significant money from the matter.
What People Are Saying
Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren said in an August 2025 statement following reports of potential conflicts of interest over reported tariff bets: “We write regarding recent reports that your investment banking subsidiary has created a financial product for the purpose of betting on the outcome of litigation related to President Trump’s tariffs … Given that one of the purported architects of President Trump’s tariff policy is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, your father and the former Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, LP, the firm’s actions raise obvious conflict-of-interest and insider dealing concerns.
“If the President’s tariffs are ultimately declared unlawful, companies that paid the tariffs may be entitled to a refund of those duties from the U.S. Government. Public reporting indicates that Cantor has offered companies the opportunity to trade their legal claim to a future tariff refund in exchange for twenty to thirty percent of the duties the company paid…A Cantor representative reportedly said the firm has, ‘the capacity to trade up to several hundred million of these presently and can likely upsize that in the future to meet potential demand.’”
Tim Meyer, a professor of international business law at Duke University School of Law, told Wired: “The fact that it’s Cantor Fitzgerald, that raises some questions. It’s quite interesting that the commerce secretary’s firm is the one that is betting the tariffs will be struck down. That strikes me as very interesting—and quite telling about what those with connections to the administration think about the merits of the tariffs.”
Brian Allen, an economic and geopolitical analyst, said Friday in an X post: “Howard Lutnick’s family firm reportedly bought tariff refund rights for 20–30 cents on the dollar after “Liberation Day” last year. Now the Supreme Court has struck the tariffs down. Translation: For every $100 invested, Lutnick’s sons may have just made 3–5x. Insiders knew. Regular Americans paid. Welcome to Corrupt America — where policy is a profit scheme.”
Ed Krassenstein, a longtime critic of Trump with over 1 million followers, said Friday on X: “After ‘Liberation Day,’ when tariffs were choking importers, Howard Lutnick’s family firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, reportedly bought up tariff refund rights at 20–30 cents on the dollar. Now the Supreme Court has invalidated the tariffs.
“3 Months ago, Lutnick said this on Newsmax: ‘I think [the Supreme Court] is leaning toward the President… I left very upbeat and very positive and I think these justices are going to come down in favor of the President’s powers.’ If those refunds pay out, every $100 they put in could turn into $300–$500. America is being defrauded by the Trump administration. Where is Nick Shirley?”
Mark Lynch, a South Carolina Republican candidate for Senate, said Friday on X: “Howard Lutnick and his Family PROFIT From Supreme Court Tariffs Ruling Howard Lutnick’s family firm reportedly bought tariff refund claims for pennies on the dollar after Liberation Day. Now the Supreme Court has struck the tariffs down, and those bets could pay out big. Add in last week’s testimony confirming his visit to Epstein’s island, and the pattern is hard to ignore. This is exactly how the insider class operates.”
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