Who is Anthony Scaramucci? 5 Things to Know About the White House Communications Director

From Esquire

President Trump offered Anthony Scaramucci the job of White House Communications Director on Friday, filling a role left vacant after longtime Republican strategist Mike Dubke resigned from the post in May after only three months on the job.

The White House Communications Director is responsible for leading the president's media and public relations strategy. A source close to the White House press team told BuzzFeed News that Trump "wanted to give Scaramucci something to do because he likes him on TV."

Scaramucci's appointment reportedly provoked White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to quit on Friday.

Here are five things to know about the 52-year-old Scaramucci:

1. He comes from the world of New York finance.

A graduate of Tufts University and Harvard Law School, according to a New York magazine profile magazine profile, Scaramucci began his career at Goldman Sachs in 1989. He left Goldman in 1996 and started Oscar Capital Management, which he ultimately sold, and later took a job as managing director gig at Lehman Brothers.

In 2006, Scaramucci founded SkyBridge Capital, a hedge fund with $11.8 billion in assets, according to Yahoo Finance. He sold the company in January for an undisclosed amount as he prepared to take a job in the Trump administration.

Scaramucci's colleagues in the finance world affectionately refer to him as "The Mooch."

2. He wasn't always a Trump supporter.

Scaramucci was a fundraiser for Barack Obama in 2008, but later criticized the president for his treatment of Wall Street. Early in the 2016 campaign, Scaramucci supported Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and then Jeb Bush. At one point he even referred to Trump as a "hack" who's "anti-American" and said he doesn't like the way Trump talks about Women.

But ultimately he threw his support behind Trump and became part of the Trump Financial Committee in May 2016, according to The Washington Post. He joined the Trump transition team shortly after Election Day and had been serving as senior vice president and chief strategy officer of the Export-Import Bank.

3. He was denied an earlier White House appointment.

The White House had planned to name Scaramucci the head of the Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs, a position reportedly modeled after the one Valerie Jarrett held in the Obama White House that would work with the business community. But administration officials withdrew the job offer, according to The New York Times, over the sale of his SkyBridge Capital. He sold the company to a politically connected Chinese company and the White House feared it would take months for Scaramucci to be cleared of potential conflicts of interest, the Times reported. Officials did, however, plan to find a new role for Scaramucci in the White House.

4. He's a former TV personality.

Scaramucci frequently appeared on CNBC as a contributor as well as on Fox Business Network. He also hosted Wall Street Week on Fox Business Network. Last year, Scaramucci published his third book, Hopping Over The Rabbit Hole.

5. He was at the center of a recent CNN controversy.

In June, three top CNN journalists resigned after publishing and then retracting a story that linked Scaramucci to the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia. The story cited anonymous sources and said Scaramucci met with the chief executive of a Russian investment fund before the inauguration. Politico reported that Scaramucci had suggested he might file a lawsuit against CNN if the piece remained on its site. After it came down, Scaramucci tweeted:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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