WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing new questions about whether his work in the Trump administration overlaps too closely with the business interests of his children. A detailed investigation by The New York Times reports that Lutnick has promoted major data center and industrial projects that his sons’ companies are helping finance, raising fresh concerns among ethics experts and government officials.
Kyle and Brandon Lutnick now help run a network of companies under the Cantor Fitzgerald umbrella. The firms include Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC Group, and Newmark Group. The brothers and their two younger siblings hold a controlling ownership stake in all three companies. These firms work in areas such as real estate, finance, cryptocurrencies, and large-scale data center projects.
Newmark has recently emerged as a top adviser in the booming data center market. The company says it has completed more than $25 billion in data center deals in the past year. Executives say the growth reflects strong demand, not political influence.
The global race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure has sent investment into U.S. data centers soaring. Lutnick has made these projects a priority at the Commerce Department. He has urged U.S. allies to invest billions of dollars in American industrial sites. Some of those same investments could eventually flow toward data centers backed by his family’s companies.
In one case, Lutnick pressed South Korea to commit large sums to domestic U.S. projects. A data center developer seeking part of that funding was already working with Newmark. The company was helping raise financing for a Texas project that Lutnick later promoted at public events.
The most complex overlap involves the United Arab Emirates. The Emiratis sought access to advanced U.S.-made chips needed for their AI ambitions. Lutnick held key authority over the export license process. He signaled that he would approve the request if the country invested billions of dollars into U.S. data centers.
The Commerce Department later approved the chip exports. Around the same time, Emirati-backed funds committed to a global data center network with major sites in Texas. Newmark helped secure more than $9 billion in loans for one of those facilities.
A spokesperson for the department said Lutnick did not steer foreign partners toward any specific project. Ethics lawyers told The Times the situation raises concerns about blurred lines, even if no rule was broken.
The tightest connection between Lutnick’s government role and his family’s business appears in the Fermi America project in Amarillo, Texas. The startup, co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and billionaire Toby Neugebauer, is building a major data center powered partly by nuclear energy.
Newmark and Cantor advised the company on financing and earned $6 million in fees. Cantor later helped lead Fermi’s initial public offering, valued at more than $12.5 billion. Lutnick attended a White House–adjacent event celebrating Fermi’s partnership with a South Korean company just weeks after his son Kyle toured the Texas site.
Commerce officials stressed Lutnick does not make decisions on individual deals. Still, some department staff members said the pattern is unusual for a Cabinet official. The White House said Lutnick has followed all ethics requirements. Department representatives pointed to his divestment agreement, which transferred his ownership stake to his children. The transfer was finalized in October, months after his confirmation.
Lutnick has said he avoids discussing business with his sons. “I would love to talk to them about it, but I’m not allowed,” he said earlier this year. Despite the controversy, major data center developers remain optimistic that the Commerce Department will continue to support the sector. Neugebauer said he expects South Korean investment to reach Texas eventually, but insists he received no special treatment.
