{
  "id": 154732,
  "title": "Scott Bessent draws on hedge fund instincts to help rescue yen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/scott-bessent-draws-on-hedge-fund-instincts-to-help-rescue-yen",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-05T02:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Japan Times",
    "slug": "japan-times",
    "url": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/08/05/economy/bessent-hedge-fund-instincts-yen/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Scott Bessent, the current Treasury Secretary, has a background in hedge funds, which is unusual for his position. Most of his predecessors came from the sell-side of finance, but Bessent has spent decades working in hedge funds.\n\nBessent's experience in hedge funds has given him a unique understanding of the yen, according to Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. This understanding may have contributed to the swift and bold move by the US government to intervene in the currency market with Japan, helping the yen to rise.\n\nBessent's past experience includes working at Soros Fund Management during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, and earlier working under George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller when they shorted the British pound. Fortune reports that this background is why investors are willing to give Bessent some leeway when he takes risks that other Treasury Secretaries might not.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "Scott Bessent is using moves from his hedge fund days to prop up Japan’s yen—and America’s $40 trillion national debt",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/scott-bessent-is-using-moves-from-his-hedge-fund-days-to-prop-up",
        "published": "2026-08-04T18:42:56.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Hedgeweek",
        "title": "Bessent brings hedge fund mindset to US-Japan yen intervention",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/bessent-brings-hedge-fund-mindset-to-us-japan-yen-intervention",
        "published": "2026-08-05T08:05:19.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}