Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing questions over his former firm’s ties to Nvidia after a CNBC analysis found that the number of Nvidia shares Cantor Fitzgerald reported holding fell by nearly 50% from September 2025 to March 2026, while Lutnick resisted efforts to crack down on Megaspeed, suspected of funneling Nvidia chips to China, and had received a classified intelligence warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy, according to Axios.
Lutnick, who left Cantor to become commerce secretary in February 2025, announced the transfer of his ownership stake to his children via trusts. Cantor reported more than 3.5 million Nvidia shares at the end of 2024 and 1.78 million by the end of March 2026, according to securities filings. The decline coincided with White House and U.S. intelligence officials pressing Lutnick to crack down on Singapore-based Megaspeed, which is suspected of funneling Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to China; Lutnick repeatedly resisted those efforts, Axios reported.
Even as Cantor’s reported Nvidia share count fell, it continued helping arrange financing for the chipmaker’s business partners. In May, Cantor was one of seven bookrunners on a $3 billion convertible bond offering for IREN, an Australian cloud provider that had just announced a $3.4 billion contract with Nvidia. It also advised Lancium, an AI infrastructure developer; The Information later reported that Nvidia had agreed to invest $2 billion in the company.
Ethics expert Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, told CNBC that while there is no proof Lutnick shared nonpublic information with Cantor Fitzgerald, “the appearance doesn’t look great.” He added: “His conversations with his sons better be about publicly available information.”
A Cantor spokesperson said Cantor had only immaterial stand-alone proprietary positions in Nvidia from time to time, unlike the positions reflected in 13F filings, which were entered into in the ordinary course of business in connection with client swap transactions. Cantor declined to answer CNBC’s other questions.
The White House said President Trump maintains "complete confidence" in Lutnick. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Treasury, Defense, State and the U.S. Trade Representative were all in favor of putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months, and said Commerce was responsible for that process.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons demanded that Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Stephen Miller preserve records on chip exports and intelligence warnings about Huang.
No evidence has emerged that Lutnick's sons had advance knowledge of intelligence concerns or that the firm's business influenced their father's decisions. Lutnick did not respond to requests for comment.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The scrutiny raises questions about potential conflicts of interest within the Trump administration's export control decisions.
- The outcome could affect enforcement of AI chip restrictions to China and the future of Nvidia's business.
- It underscores the close ties between the administration and a major technology company.
Background
Howard Lutnick was CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street investment bank, before becoming Commerce Secretary under President Trump in February 2025. He transferred his ownership to his sons Brandon and Kyle. Cantor Fitzgerald has deep ties to Nvidia, providing financing for the chipmaker's partners and holding large positions in its stock. The US has imposed export controls on advanced AI chips to China, with concerns about smuggling via intermediaries like Megaspeed.
Key Perspectives
- Richard Painter, former White House ethics lawyer: Said there is no proof of Lutnick sharing nonpublic information, but "the appearance doesn't look great."
- Cantor Fitzgerald spokesperson: Said the firm's Nvidia positions were immaterial and entered into in ordinary course for client swap transactions.
- Brandon Lutnick, Cantor chairman: Called Nvidia "one of the great companies on the planet" with "an amazing leadership team."
- White House official: Expressed "complete confidence" in Lutnick.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Said other agencies favored putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months, and Commerce is responsible for that list.
- Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.): Demanded preservation of records and questioned whether counter-intelligence action was taken.
What to Watch
- Cantor Fitzgerald's next quarterly securities filing, due Monday, which will show its Nvidia holdings as of September 30.
- Whether Congress launches an ethics investigation into Lutnick's handling of export controls and ties to Cantor.
- How the Trump administration responds to pressure from lawmakers and whether it imposes new restrictions on Megaspeed.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedCantor Fitzgerald’s reported Nvidia holdings fell as scrutiny grew over Lutnick’s handling of the Megaspeed export issue.Finance: “The decline coincided with White House and U.S. intelligence officials pressing Lutnick to crack down on Megaspeed”
- SupportedA CNBC analysis found Cantor’s reported Nvidia share count fell by nearly 50% from September 2025 to March 2026.Finance: “reported a nearly 50% decline in the number of Nvidia shares it held between September 2025 and March 2026”
- SupportedLutnick repeatedly resisted efforts to crack down on Megaspeed.Finance: “Lutnick repeatedly resisted those efforts, according to Axios .”
- SupportedMegaspeed was suspected of funneling Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to China.Finance: “a Singapore-based company suspected of funneling Nvidia's advanced artificial intelligence chips to China .”
- SupportedLutnick had received a classified intelligence warning about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy.Finance: “Howard Lutnick had already been sent a highly classified intelligence memo detailing concerns about Huang's relationship”
- SupportedCantor reported more than 3.5 million Nvidia shares at the end of 2024 and 1.78 million at the end of March 2026.Finance: “At the end of 2024, the firm disclosed more than 3.5 million Nvidia shares”
- SupportedCantor reported 1.78 million Nvidia shares by the end of March 2026.Finance: “1.78 million by the end of March 2026”
- SupportedCantor was one of seven bookrunners on IREN’s $3 billion convertible bond offering, after IREN announced a $3.4 billion contract with Nvidia.Finance: “On May 7, Nvidia and Australia-based cloud computing provider IREN announced a five-year, $3.4 billion cloud computing contract”
- SupportedPainter said, “the appearance doesn’t look great.”Finance: “"the appearance doesn't look great."”
- SupportedPainter said, “His conversations with his sons better be about publicly available information.”Finance: “"His conversations with his sons better be about publicly available information," Painter told CNBC.”
- Partly supportedThe Cantor spokesperson’s statement that the firm had only immaterial stand-alone proprietary Nvidia positions is quoted verbatim.Finance: “"Cantor has to date from time to time had only immaterial stand-alone proprietary positions in Nvidia, unlike the positions reflected in 13F filings which were entered into in the ordinary course of business in connection with client swap transactions, that are common in institutional markets,"”
- SupportedThe source says there is no evidence that Lutnick’s sons had advance knowledge of the intelligence concerns or that Cantor’s business interests influenced Lutnick’s decisions.Finance: “There is no evidence that Lutnick's sons had advance knowledge of the intelligence concerns, that changes in Cantor's reported holdings were tied to any warnings or that the firm's business interests influenced their father's decisions.”