Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent managed a $4 billion fund that experienced 90% redemptions.
Posted by The MeidasTouch Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 2 contradict2 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The MeidasTouch PodcastOct 27, 2026
Sources support that Bessent ran Key Square, a fund raised at about $4.5 billion with a peak near $5 billion, and that its assets fell about 90% to roughly $577 million. They attribute that decline to losses and, in one source, to losses plus redemptions, so the claim's '90% redemptions' framing overstates the redemption share.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
What was said
… and Iran would be so isolated that any day they would break, any day that people would rise up, and there would be regime change, because Besant, who couldn't even manage his rinky-dinky fund it wasn't that rinky-dinky, but in the swing of things, I mean, if he couldn't manage a $4 billion fund and had 90% redemptions there, because people were like, "Oh, wait a minute, you don't know what you're doing. It seems like you were just trading under people who actually knew what they were doing in the past, and you were trying to steal their valor and take credit for it. …
The MeidasTouch Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Sources describe the 90% decline as a loss of capital from poor performance ('lost 90% of his capital'), not as redemptions alone, which undercuts the claim's specific mechanism.[2][3]
Supports. Multiple sources state Bessent's Key Square hedge fund launched with about $4.5 billion and that its assets fell by nearly 90%, to about $577 million from a peak near $5 billion.[1][2][4]
Context. One opinion-driven source attributes the asset collapse to 'losses and redemptions' combined, so redemptions were part of the decline but not the sole cause.[5]
Context. The $4 billion figure in the claim is close to the reported $4.5 billion raised, a rounding-level difference rather than a contradiction.[1][4]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 3, 3 not rated
- 1Exclusive: Fund manager Bessent scores double on Trump victoryreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Wall Street investor rips Cabinet member as nothing but a ...rawstory.com · tier 3 · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3How Trump's Treasury Secretary Crashed His Own Hedge ...thebulwark.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Mega Hedge Fund Launches Are Rare — and Don't ...institutionalinvestor.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5President Scott Bessent. - UNFTRunftr.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Scott Bessent's investment fund experienced 90% redemptions in its first year.False
- The Treasury Secretary had 90% redemptions from his funds when he was on his own.Can’t tell
- Scott Bessent is the Treasury Secretary.True
- Scott Bessent is intervening in the bond market.True
- Scott Bessent is buying up Treasury instruments to push interest rates down.True