Lutnick sons at Cantor Fitzgerald explored buying tariff refund rights while father shaped policy

Reporting emerged on February 21, 2026, that Cantor Fitzgerald salespeople, working under Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's son Brandon Lutnick as chairman, explored buying importers' tariff refund claims for $2-3 million each — bets that would pay $10 million if courts struck down Trump's tariffs, yielding three-to-fivefold returns. Howard Lutnick was simultaneously the administration's lead architect of the tariff policy under review in courts. Cantor Fitzgerald denied executing any such transactions, but congressional Democrats demanded records from both Lutnick and his son.