The hedge fund investor predicted last year that President-elect Donald J. Trump’s political fortunes were on the rise.

It was Scott Bessent’s job to lose—and he almost did.But after two weeks of uncertainty, Donald Trump selected Bessent, a longtime investor, as his next Treasury secretary. The pick capped a drawn-out,

Scott Bessent, the founder of the Connecticut-based hedge fund Key Square Group, had been making a full-court press for the post.