[Photo: Scaramucci at 2016 Salt Conference]

by Howard Haykin

We know Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci to be self-made billionaire hedge fund manager and an ardent supporter of Donald Trump. Yet, reading "Scaramucci on Trump: ‘He’s My Client’," Monday's column by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Founder of NYTimes Dealbook, one gets a deeper appreciation for who the man is and how he got to where he is today. 

While I hope you read Mr. Sorkin's fascinating account of Donald Trump's new Communications Director, I've provided the following brief outline of his background - to sort of whet your appetite.  As you'll learn and appreciate, Scaramucci is an individual who's been knocked down time and again - only to rise even higher on each next go-around.

• Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci was born into an Italian-American, Roman Catholic working class family in Port Washington, NY. His father was a construction worker.

• After graduating from high school, Scaramucci earned a BA from Tufts University and a JD from Harvard Law.

• Scaramucci began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he worked from 1989 to 1996 and held positions in its Investment Banking, Equities, and Private Wealth Management divisions. During one particularly "up and down" year, Scaramucci was hired, fired, and rehired by the firm.

• Upon leaving Goldman in 1996, Scaramucci launched Oscar Capital Management, a hedge fund, with colleague Andrew Boszhardt. Oscar Capital was sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001 and, upon Neuberger Berman’s sale to Lehman Brothers in 2003, Scaramucci served as a managing director in the firm's Investment Management division.

• In 2005, Scaramucci founded SkyBridge Capital, a fund-of-funds firm. The firm almost didn't make it after the financial crisis in 2008.

• But SkyBridge survived and, in 2009, Scaramucci launched the 'SALT' Conference (named after SkyBridge Alternatives); the annual Springtime event became a "see and be seen" event for the hedge fund industry.

• In 2011, Scaramucci received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award New York Award in the Financial Services category, and in 2016 was ranked #85 in Worth magazine's "Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance."

• In 2014, SkyBridge licensed the rights to Wall Street Week, a financial television news program formerly hosted by Louis Rukeyser on PBS, and Scaramucci was installed as host. Broadcast rights were transferred to Fox Broadcasting in 2016.

• In 2016, following the election, Scaramucci sold his SkyBridge to clear the way for him to head the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump administration. That appointment stalled and, in June 2017, was named SVP and Chief Strategy Office for the U.S. Ex-Im Bank.

• In July 2017, Scaramucci was named Communications Director for Donald Trump