President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of the treasury has a deep and wide Southland connection, with a mansion in Bel- Air, an extensive relationship with Hollywood as a prolific film financier, and a job history that includes the chairmanship of a controversial bank headquartered in Pasadena.
Now 53, Mnuchin began his career at Goldman Sachs, leaving after 17 years and founding Dune Capital Management in 2004. He also was part of a team that, in 2009, bought IndyMac from the federal government for $1.6 billion, later serving as chairman of the Pasadena-based institution, which was renamed OneWest Bank Group and later sold.
In 2011, protesters gathered in front of Mnuchin’s home in Bel-Air — it’s reported to be worth $26.5 million — to protest OneWest’s foreclosure on homeowners, many of whom were alleged to belong to minority communities.
Mnuchin has his name on 34 films as producer. His Dune Entertainment helped fund movies like the “X-Men” franchise, “Suicide Squad,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” He also was among those who bankrolled the blockbuster “Avatar” and Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply,” in which he makes a cameo appearance, and he counts “The LEGO Movie,” “American Sniper,” and “Sully” among the successful pictures he’s backed.
Mnuchin was also an investor in Relativity Media, a Beverly Hills-based studio, serving as nonexecutive co-chairman of the board from October 2014 to May 2015 and leaving just before the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A statement this morning from the presidential transition team announcing Trump’s intent to nominate Mnuchin said he is a member of the board of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the UCLA Health System board, the Los Angeles Police Foundation, as well as a number of organizations in New York.
