Pete Hegseth’s broker, the US Secretary of Defense, attempted to make a massive investment in major arms companies in the weeks leading up to the Israeli-American attack on Iran, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing three sources close to the matter.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, stated on X that this information was “completely false and fabricated”, demanding an immediate retraction.
According to the FT article, Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February to make a multimillion-dollar investment in the asset manager’s “Defense Industrials Active” ETF, shortly before the US launched their military action against Tehran.
The financial daily reported that the investment discussed by Hegseth’s broker ultimately did not materialize, as the fund, launched last May, was not yet accessible to Morgan Stanley clients.
The FT report does not specify the level of discretion the broker had to invest on behalf of Hegseth, nor whether Hegseth was informed of the efforts made.
“Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock regarding such investment,” Parnell stated.
BlackRock declined to comment on these reports, while Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests.
These revelations about this investment attempt come in the context of increased monitoring of transactions in financial markets and anticipation of major political decisions by President Donald Trump.
Some of these decisions have been preceded by timely bets, leading some experts to question possible leaks of prior information.
